{"id":23709,"date":"2014-01-29T12:34:31","date_gmt":"2014-01-29T17:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=23709"},"modified":"2014-01-29T22:14:21","modified_gmt":"2014-01-30T03:14:21","slug":"dissecting-the-goncalves-situation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=23709","title":{"rendered":"Dissecting the Goncalves Situation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Revolution

Revolution captain Jose Goncalves has left the club in a difficult situation after declaring his discontent recently. (Photo: Kari Heistad\/CapturedImages.biz)<\/p><\/div>\n

Captain Jose Goncalves played a huge role this past season in getting the New England Revolution back into the playoffs for the first time in\u00a0four years, so there was understandable excitement when the team exercised both his purchase and contract option in late November.\u00a0 Goncalves’ future appeared to be in New England, at least for 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n

That is until Goncalves expressed disconent over his contract, along with\u00a0a desire to play in Europe “very soon,”\u00a0during\u00a0a Jan. 19 interview with the blog A Minute in Sports!<\/i><\/a><\/span> A week later, upon the start of Revolution preseason camp, Goncalves confirmed with the New England media<\/a><\/span> it was no misprint. Revolution general manager Mike Burns also made clear the team was aware of the situation<\/a><\/span>, while pointing out Goncalves was now under contract with the team for multiple years.<\/p>\n

Further details slowly emerged. On Monday, Revolution beat reporter Kyle McCarthy tweeted Goncalves<\/a><\/span> is set to make around $450,000 under his current contract. According to the MLS Players Union<\/a><\/span>, Goncalves had guaranteed compensation from the league of $104,375 in 2013, but that was just the portion of his total salary during the loan, as FC Sion picked up the rest. Goncalves total compensation in 2013 is still unclear, but McCarthy suggested his combined salary was more than the $450,000<\/a> <\/span>he\u2019s set to make this year.<\/p>\n

A survey of 2013 salaries reveals the highest paid defender in the league, current Vancouver Whitecaps captain and former U.S. National Team center back and 2010 World Cup starter, Jay DeMerit, had guaranteed compensation of $375,000. Goncalves’ reported 2014 salary would\u2019ve made him the highest paid defender in the league last season by $75,000. Of course Los Angeles Galaxy star center back Omar Gonzalez\u2019s reported $1.5 million salary<\/a><\/span> as a Designated Player changes that this season.<\/p>\n

While Gonzalez’s\u00a0figure\u00a0is clearly an outlier,\u00a0other quality MLS defenders’ compensation puts\u00a0Goncalves’ salary in perspective. U.S. National Team center back Matt Besler ($180,000) and French center back and 2013 MLS Cup MVP Aur\u00e9lien Collin ($256,250) led the best defense in MLS last season, and took Sporting Kansas City to an MLS Cup Championship, while earning a combined $436,250 — $13,750 less than Goncalves is reportedly set to earn this season.<\/p>\n

And while Goncalves may look longingly at Gonzalez\u2019s salary, their situations\u00a0are incomparable. Gonzalez, now a regular on the U.S. National Team, and a likely starter for the team in the World Cup, had a 2012 loan to German Bundesliga club FC N\u00fcrnberg that was cut short by injury and reportedly had interest from clubs in Germany, England and Mexico<\/a><\/span> before the Galaxy paid a premium to keep him. The interest in Gonzalez was understandable. After all, the 25-year-old was a perennial MLS Best XI defender and was impressing on the international stage.<\/p>\n

Goncalves, on the other hand, while playing phenomenally in 2013, spent much of the previous two years\u00a0mired in\u00a0third and fourth division soccer in Switzerland for FC Sion\u2019s reserve team. Over a season-and-a-half with the club, Goncalves managed just six appearances (four starts) with the first team in the top division. Prior to joining the Revolution, Goncalves hadn\u2019t started a top flight match since Mar. 2012, according to Transfermarkt<\/i><\/a><\/span>. His career appeared to be on a steep downward spiral before joining the Revolution. Transfermarkt<\/i> estimated his valued<\/a> had dropped from 2 million euros (roughly $2.7 million at today\u2019s exchange rate) in March of 2010, while he was playing at Hearts in Scotland to 350,000 euros (~$480,000) in June of 2012 at Sion \u2013 his lowest value since starting his pro career as a 19-year-old in 2004.<\/p>\n

A look back<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prior to joining the Revolution, Goncalves was stuck in the roughest patch of his career after he left Hearts in controversial fashion in 2010. Goncalves had been a success at Hearts, and was even on the Portuguese National Team radar in the summer of 2009<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0He was reportedly the club\u2019s highest paid player with a \u00a312,000-per-week salary (roughly $1 million per year), and was offered an extension that Hearts\u2019 manager Jim Jefferies claimed was “fantastic.”\u00a0It was an offer\u00a0even Goncalves\u2019 agent was surprised he wouldn\u2019t sign<\/a><\/span>. But Goncalves apparently made it clear at some point in the winter of 2010 that he wouldn\u2019t re-sign with Hearts<\/a><\/span>, and his manager left him out of the squad because of it for\u00a0much of the second half of the season.<\/p>\n

Goncalves didn\u2019t have a club lined up after his Hearts contract expired, but his reasons for leaving the club gained some clarity when, over a year after leaving the club, he spoke of issues at Hearts\u2019 with unpaid wages.<\/a> \u00a0Goncalves said his next club would likely be in Italy, Spain or Germany<\/a><\/span> and told Transfermarkt<\/i><\/a><\/span> that \u201cat the moment, I don\u00b4t want to go back to Switzerland. I want to play for a good club in a different country. The Swiss league is not an option.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goncalves spent the summer recovering from an injury, but despite speaking of interest from clubs in the world\u2019s top leagues, he remained\u00a0without a club\u00a0through the fall\u00a0before returning to Switzerland to join FC St. Gallen \u2013 a club in the midst of a difficult relegation battle. Goncalves wasn\u2019t able to save the team from relegation and a last place finish, and after six months at the club, he\u00a0opted to invoke a clause to terminate his contract due to the team\u2019s relegation.<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-2 defender was then off to fellow Swiss club FC Sion in July of 2011 in what can only be seen as a high-risk move. Sion was under a FIFA-imposed transfer ban at the time for the club signing a player\u00a0while he was still under contract with his former club back\u00a0in 2009. The ban meant the club would have to fight a legal battle for Goncalves to play. Goncalves first appeared in a Europa League qualifier against Celtic, as Sion won 3-1 on aggregate, but the results were vacated and Celtic advanced because Sion fielded ineligible players \u2013 including Goncalves.<\/p>\n

Goncalves \u2013 and the other new signings \u2013 suffered further suspensions in October due to the club\u2019s transfer ban as the battle played out in the courts. After the suspensions were lifted, Goncalves struggled to break back into the first team, making just one appearance the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

Clearly not in the team\u2019s plans the next season, Goncalves played just seven minutes. The team even let him go on trial with the Revolution\u00a0during the autumn in\u00a02012 \u2013 an unusual\u00a0measure for a player under contract. Goncalves impressed enough for the Revolution to secure a loan deal for the defender in January at an attractive\u00a0price. If suggestions that Goncalves combined salary in 2013 was greater than the $450,000 his new contract is reportedly worth, FC Sion were picking up nearly 80% of his salary or potentially more during his loan.<\/p>\n

Such an arrangement isn\u2019t unheard of for a young player\u00a0a team is looking to loan out for experience to a club that couldn\u2019t ordinarily afford his salary. But\u00a0it\u00a0is highly-unusual for a 27-year-old. If FC Sion was willing to cover around 80% of Goncalves salary for his loan, it certainly shows the team didn\u2019t see him in their future plans and seemingly indicates there were no clubs interested in taking on Goncalves and his salary for more than the $104,375 the Revolution contributed.<\/p>\n

Part of the loan agreement included a purchase option, and a contract option that the parties agreed to before the season started. Considering Goncalves had spent the past year and a half playing mostly third and fourth division soccer in Switzerland, and presuming the logical assumption that no club was willing pay more than the $104,375 the Revolution did to keep him on loan for the year was correct, a possible $450,000 contract option would seem a fantastic deal for the player. Certainly nothing short of an amazing year would\u2019ve justified the Revolution picking up a contract option that at the time would\u2019ve made him the highest paid defender in the league.<\/p>\n

Goncalves delivered. The Portuguese\u00a0international earned the captain\u2019s armband, led the team to the playoffs for the first time since 2009, and earned MLS Defender of the Year in the process. Goncalves had turned his career around, and done enough to become the second-highest paid defender in the league once the Revolution picked up the option.<\/p>\n

Going forward<\/strong><\/p>\n

But, somewhere along the way, Goncalves\u00a0became unhappy with the way things played out. Unsurprisingly, all parties have been tight-lipped on exactly where the breakdown occurred, leaving only speculation: Did the Revolution \u2013 given the salary and its cap implications \u2013 attempt to negotiate down the reported $450,000 figure before picking up the option, causing Goncalves to feel he was \u201ceasy to replace\u201d? Did Goncalves want to negotiate a larger contract, but an agreement couldn\u2019t be reached, and the team picked up the previously-agreed upon option? What were the \u201cpromises\u201d Goncalves said the club made?<\/p>\n

(Side question: Are unilateral contract options legal? FIFPro \u2013 the worldwide players union \u2013 says no<\/a><\/span>, but the real answer appears to be something more complicated<\/a><\/span>.)<\/p>\n

Further complicating the issue is the timing of the complaints. If his discontent wasn\u2019t known to the club until the same time it broke to the media, the Revolution were left in the unfortunate situation of having passed on\u00a0the chance to re-acquire Michael Parkhurst, perhaps the best \u2013 and certainly most consistent \u2013 defender to ever play for the club, and a local product and childhood fan of the team at that. The decision to trade Parkhurst \u2013 and his salary reported at \u201cnorth $300,000\u201d<\/a><\/span> \u2013 was undoubtedly influenced by the knowledge that they had Goncalves and his large salary for the near future.<\/p>\n

Locking up $750,000+ in salaries in two defenders would be unheard of in MLS, and the team was able to get decent value in the 4th<\/sup> overall SuperDraft pick and a reported $100,000 in allocation money, which may well be used to buy down Goncalves’ salary for cap purposes. But, the whole equation\u00a0in evaluating this trade changes if the club is left with an unhappy Goncalves, who may now want out.<\/p>\n

None of these answers are likely to come anytime soon. What is known is Goncalves is under a contract with the club for multiple years – and a contract\u00a0that makes him one of the\u00a0richest defenders in the history of the league. Yet something over the past few months has left him unhappy, and that\u2019s obviously not good news for a club looking to improve on last year\u2019s performance in\u00a0an Eastern Conference that was undeniably strengthened during the offseason.<\/p>\n

If Goncalves’ career has shown anything, it\u2019s that he\u2019s\u00a0never been short of\u00a0ambition. For better or worse, he\u2019s switched clubs frequently throughout his career looking for the next challenge, even if that meant taking a few risks along the way. A year ago, he was plying much of his trade in the Swiss third division, about as far as a pro could be from the Portuguese National Team radar. Now, after a year in New England led to a career revival, Goncalves is already talking national team and potentially looking to his next career move.<\/p>\n

Are the Revolution willing to pay their\u00a0big-budget\u00a0skipper even more? Even if so, would that be enough after\u00a0a\u00a0\u201cfantastic\u201d offer from Hearts four years ago couldn\u2019t\u00a0sway him\u00a0once he decided he\u2019d wanted a new challenge?<\/p>\n

Predicting how this one plays out isn\u2019t easy, but no one wins in a scenario where New England\u2019s captain and highest paid player is unhappy.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s known, what can be assumed, what questions remain, and where does it go from here?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/JGoncalves-23.png?fit=455%2C306&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23709"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23709"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23725,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23709\/revisions\/23725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}