Veron says no to DC United

Juan Veron's On again, Off again courtship with DC United has apparently ended in OFF mode.

According to a report out of Argentina, Veron has decided to stay with Argentine club Estudiantes rather than accept a lucrative offer from D.C. united that would have made him the club's Designated Player.

Marcelo Sottile of Argentina's Ole broke the story, getting the words straight from Veron (thanks to reader Christian Reyes for passing this story along this morning).

"I stay for the people and for my teammates," Veron said. "The truth is Friday was a bad day. I could not say good goodbye. The request of the boys for me to stay was very important."

If Veron has, in fact, turned down D.C. United, it leaves D.C. looking for other alternatives, potentially Claudio Lopez. That still won't offer much consolation considering how close the four-time MLS Cup champions came to landing a quality player in Veron.

Share your thoughts on this turn of events below.

Comments

[Tim]

I'm glad the deal is falling through.

[nico]

too bad for DC. But it is refreshing to see players make decisions with their heart not just pocketbooks, (assuming DC's offer was financially more lucrative than a stay in Argentina).

[jade1mls]

DC will find someone else of quality. There is always a plan B. Remember last year United supposedly signed Ruy?

http://www.goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=199336

Well that didn't happen but DC did land Emilio and Fred. There is always a plan B in DC.

[CD]

He could have and should have made his decision a year ago.

[Roehl]

SI.com: pwned

[undrafted]

almost Trecker-esque

[Nicholas]

As much as I dislike D.C., I would have loved to see this deal go through. I want to see teams us the DP slot.

A quality DP on each team would make a big different to the league landscape.

[kpugs]

I just read they signed him and became enraged, so reading this is awesome news from my point of view.

[John]

I think this demonstrates how hard it is for MLS to really sign a quality player. NYC and LA have a certain appeal for some players but it's not the teams (or the league) that really draws foreign talent--at least at the higher levels.

It will be interesting to see how many teams fail to sign DPs this season.

[nathan3e]

Not all that surprising in the end. Veron went to Estudiantes from Inter for 1/10 of what he was earning in Europe. Money does not seem to be his primary motivating factor at this point. Claudio Lopez? He has been mostly a sub since returning to Racing Club and he has been playing since 1990. I am surprised Santiago Solari's name does not come up. With Carvalho coming to Inter it does not look like Solari will be offered an extension. I seem to recall Ives saying that Solari played college soccer briefly in the US. He has a lot left and he is a great guy.

[Kevin Q]

I'm not happy about this. DCU should've had him. This shows everyone that, even though the US is where people want to live at some point, it's not necessarily where they want to play the great game of futbol. I know that some of you don't like DCU, but this signing could've attracted other talented South American players to come and get the talent level up in our league. Isn't this important for the game and the league?

[Garret]

I am so excited!!
I never wanted him, we don't even need him!
We already have Benny, Clyd, Dyachenko, Fred, Gomez, Arguez in center mid. Why Veron.

What does this mean? SHEVCHENKO possibly?

[Garret]

I am so excited!!
I never wanted him, we don't even need him!
We already have Benny, Clyd, Dyachenko, Fred, Gomez, Arguez in center mid. Why Veron.

What does this mean? SHEVCHENKO possibly?

[Garret]

sorry for the double post.

[fred]

Veron would have been a great marketable star in the league but IMO i believe he mostly stayed for family reasons.

[Haig]

"There is always a plan B in DC."

Yes, like with the stadium, Jade.

[who-knows]

Sky Sports News reported this morning he was signing. That's funny.

[Hincha Tim]

I don't think this is a big loss for DCU from a footballing standpoint. They do lose a big name player, but I think there are footballers in Argentina with almost the same skills that could be had for much less money. I do agree however, that I would like to see the league teams bring in some more creative talented and motivated DP's.
It's too bad that Zidane and Figo can't be had, since even if they aren't near their peak levels, they could still provide some magic moments on the field if they had a good attitude.

[nathan3e]

Figo would still provide magic moments, but he has openly stated that he would come here mostly so that his daughter could learn English. He would regard any post-Inter football as semi-retirement. At least he is honest.

[ag nigrin]

I just read this on SI.com

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/soccer/12/13/veron.mls/index.html?section=si_latest

so it's nice to see Ives scoop those chumps... I am not soo sure Veron would be the answer for DC...too much ego IMO...

[Nick from Big Soccer]

Interesting you mention Santiago Solari. I had a chance a couple of years ago to have spent a couple of days vacation with him and his wife. He was interested in how soccer was progressing in the US and said he would b e open to it one day.

[Matt]

Does anyone really believe that these expensive players will actually bring in a dime of revenue? Their record is mixed, performance-wise, but virtually every "famous" foreign signing failed to bring in the fans. Even the Mexican stars Hernandez and Suerez never didn't draws.

Angel played magnificently but did nothing to repay his salary. New York lost another ton of money last year and his 2.5 mill (+1.5 Mill for Captain America) did not help. It's time we accepted that American's rarely watch foreign (or any other kind) soccer so why would our rare but increasing number of fans really know who the *&^% Figo is? I probably watch more soccer than 98% of America and I wouldn't care if he or Zidane was on the field. But hiring another expensive foreigner who drew crowds in Europe is not the answer if our crowds never heard of him. We need to accept that building this sport will be a slow process and quick fixes aren't going to work.

[Mike]

The stadium issue is the exception, you are correct. The reason I believe there was no plan 'B' for the stadium was due to the confidence emminating from the city asking the club to build on that bit of land, then new blood came in to office and turned his back on promises made.

Anyways, as a United fan, I am sad but optimistic at the same time. I know things will be alright, but it is still a sad day. In honor of this failing I ask all United fans to wear black. Oh wait, we do already.

[Hincha Tim]

Matt, I agree to a point, but I think bringing the right player could increase interest and make them worth their salary.
In order to make it worthwhile I would say the player has to have these attributes:
1) Still have the will to play hard and want to win.
2) Be a creative, technical player playing in a playmaker role. (No defenders. I would say even having an attacker who relies on good feeds from his teammates would be a mistake unless they have a stellar playmaker on the team).
3) Be healthy. There are 32-34 year old players who are near the top of their games.
I would have paid to see a 35 year old Johann Cruyff play in the U.S. as I would pay to see Zidane play if he was still fit and had a good attitude. If he did, he certainly could bring something special to a team and the league.

[nathan3e]

Nick -

Thanks for seconding the Solari thought. I think he would be a great addition to any team in MLS.

Matt -

New York will lose a ton of money each and every year they play in the dump that is Giants Stadium, regardless of who is playing for them. Hence the new stadium. Your analysis of the general worthlessness of expensive signings is largely on point, but you ignored Blanco. He was a success on the field and at the gate.