Written By Nicolas Hallett
News broke Wednesday night that Minnesota United star midfielder and 2014 North American Soccer League MVP Miguel Ibarra is headed for the exit door with multiple reports from Mexico claiming a transfer has been agreed with Club Leon of Liga MX, Mexico’s top soccer division.
Sources inside United have told Cold Omaha previously that Major League Soccer clubs have come calling for Ibarra, only to rebuffed by the asking price, which is believed to be in the region of $1 million.
Ibarra is certainly a MLS-quality player, which is why this would be a curious decision from Minnesota’s standpoint with the team set to join America’s top soccer division in the coming years.
The counter argument isn’t completely ludicrous, though. If Club Leon was willing to pay the massive transfer fee for United’s talisman, then you could see a scenario where Minnesota’s front office believed they could reinvest those funds to great effect.
As a regular member of the United States men’s national team under Jurgen Klinsmann, Ibarra’s stock has never been higher. This makes it a great time to sell. Particularly as it looks like that may be coming to an end with Ibarra left off the preliminary 35-man 2015 Gold Cup roster, which was announced Wednesday.
Updates to come.
Update: 6/12/15
They actually did it. Not to be hyperbolic, but Minnesota United did the relatively unthinkable and allowed Miguel Ibarra to leave.
News broke Wednesday night that Minnesota’s star midfielder and 2014 North American Soccer League MVP was reportedly headed for the exit door with multiple sources from Mexico claiming a transfer had been agreed with Club Leon of Liga MX, Mexico’s top soccer division.
The following day United confirmed these reports.
“No doubt there’s a heavy heart. It’s tough when you’re losing a great player and an amazing individual like Miguel,” head coach Manny Lagos said of his now former player who joined the club in 2012.
With a heavy heart indeed. During his time in Minnesota, Ibarra has contributed mightily to a franchise that has displayed massive improvement on and off the pitch in recent years. Specifically, finishing with the best regular season record last season and winning a Major League Soccer franchise a few months ago.
While with United, Ibarra was twice named to the NASL Best XI, won the league MVP in 2014 and become the first second division player to play for the United States men’s national team since 2005.
In 93 appearances in all competitions, Ibarra scored 16 goals and tallied 11 assists.
Sources inside United have told Cold Omaha previously that Major League Soccer clubs have come calling for Ibarra, only to rebuffed by the asking price, which is believed to be in the region of $1 million.
As is often the case, the club chose to not disclose the specific finances of the deal. Though one source did confirm to David La Vaque of the Star Tribune that the deal was, in fact, worth seven figures.
Ibarra is certainly a top quality player, which is why this is a bit of a curious decision from Minnesota’s standpoint with the team set to join the MLS in the coming years.
The counter argument isn’t completely ludicrous, though. If Club Leon was willing to pay the massive transfer fee for United’s talisman, then you could see a scenario where Minnesota’s front office believed they could reinvest those funds to great effect.
“You hate to say goodbye to a player like this, but the reality is that this deal is a win for the club, for Miguel and for León,” said team president Nick Rogers, who handles the team’s roster acquisitions and departures.
The key from that statement being that it is a “win” for the club. This again alludes to the theory that though United would have enjoyed keeping Ibarra, the offer was too good to refuse.
The fact that León agreed to let Ibarra play in Minnesota’s final spring season game after purchasing him and additionally bring its entire team to Blaine, Minn. and play a friendly game against the Loons also strongly endorses this narrative.
United has a solid roster at present — arguably elite by NASL standards — but it will take upgrading at multiple positions to compete at the next level. Make no mistake about it, Ibarra could not have carried this team in the MLS — even a man of his caliber struggles to do that at the club’s current level. Soccer is very much unlike basketball; it truly takes a team effort to be successful. The subtraction of Ibarra coupled with the addition of the new squad members his transfer fee will provide could prove to be a net positive for The Loons.
Rogers is also accurate that it is a win for the other two parties. It’s likely that Ibarra called for this move to some degree. Sure, he would have liked to stick it out at Minnesota and play in America’s top division. But that’s not coming for another few years (or ever if the franchise’s stadium deal gets denied, which would be preposterous. But that’s another discussion for another day.)
Soccer is young man’s game. Players are past their prime and quickly nearing retirement at 33. At 25 years old and for Ibarra to reach the highest heights of his potential, he needs to be plying his trade for a top-level club right now.
As a regular member of the United States men’s national team under Jurgen Klinsmann, Ibarra’s stock has never been higher. This makes it a great time to sell. Particularly as it looks like that may be coming to an end with Ibarra left off the preliminary 35-man 2015 Gold Cup roster, which was announced Wednesday.
“It’s important for people to realize we are not a club that’s built with the expectation of developing and selling players — we want to build a great environment and cultivate great players here,” Lagos said. “… this deal opens up opportunities for the club to get more players. I believe our fans know that these relationships we are establishing will pay huge dividends in the future.”
It may be hard to swallow now, but maybe, just maybe, this situation will really turn out to be one of those rare win-wins for all involved.