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Why The Cooper Deal Fell Through


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Interesting article by Kenny Coopers father about MLS

exert about the transfer -

But before the striker could move back to Europe, a suitor willing to meet MLS' financial terms had to emerge. Cooper says a number of teams were interested in his son's services this summer, and it was just a matter of finding the right situation.

"Munich was very patient," the father says of the team which finally secured his son's services. "We knew in the transfer window there would be offers coming in - Eintrach Frankfurt, Cardiff City, Bristol City, West Bromwich Albion - but this one it felt right. It's a massive club with great tradition. I guess you could say a little like Newcastle United in that it's a great team that went down."

Before 1860 Munich moved in, Cooper was close to a deal to move back to England with Championship club Bristol City, but that accord apparently fell apart over MLS' insistence that the player sign over his right to ten percent of the transfer fee, a percentage guaranteed by FIFA bylaws. A deal that would have sent Cooper to Norwegian side Rosenberg last summer also fell apart over Cooper's refusal to sign over his portion of the fee.

MLS' stinginess over players' share of transfer fees was not directed solely at Cooper, it turns out. Nearly every player to leave MLS, with the exception of Brad Guzan, has reportedly been convinced to give up their portion of the fee.

"You can call it business or whatever you want, but what I call it is incorrect," the elder Cooper says of the practice. "Every player in the world gets ten percent, so why would you stop a young player from getting his, when you're making millions? Why would Kenny give up $500,000 when the league's making five million? Nowhere else in the world does that happen."

In the end the Germans upped the personal terms of the deal to the point that it made sense for the Coopers to drop their objections to waiving their right to the share of the fee, and MLS signed off on the deal. The Dallas father-son tandem is now anxious to get to Germany and continue Cooper, Jr.'s development.

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What a strange rule to have setup in the first place, even stranger to ask a player to give it up, whats wrong with negotiating your own signing fee? Or do they get the 10% on top of that? Seems we were close and i take it that we were not prepared to make up the 10% deficit on the transfer fee. Would like to have heard our side of why things didnt happen, we do seem to have a sensible but stubborn financial setup at the club it has to be said.

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Sounds like the fee was up above 3m quid - higher than expected that's for sure...

From Soccer America;

FC Dallas could have sold Cooper last summer to Rosenborg for $3 million, but rejected the offer and came out with public pronouncements about making him a symbol of the franchise. (There was also interest from Welsh club Cardiff City.) FC Dallas offered him a contract worth approximately $375,000 - about one-half of Rosenborg's offer -- and after that deal was turned down by Cooper and his representatives, it got very quiet.

Despite scoring two goals for the USA at the Gold Cup and 18 in league play last season, Cooper has been sold for a fee German media report as 500,000 euros ($720,000). There are performance clauses, sell-on provisions and promotion kick-ins that could ratchet up the price considerably, yet FC Dallas lost hugely in prestige as well as up-front money by waiting nearly a year to sell Cooper.

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That is strange - where did his Dad get the 10% costing $500k and the league losing $5m then?

Looks like his Dad can't add up, or was exaggerating tenfold.

The leading German footy magazine, Kicker, says the fee is believed to have been in "the low six-figure range", i.e. no more then EUR 500k.

1860 have also, by the way, given Cooper the no. 33 shirt.

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