Talk in the Big D today centers around All-Star midfielder Juan Toja and his possible transfer to FC Steaua Bucureşti in Romania. Diego Aparicio of Al Dia here in Dallas reports today that the Romanian side upped their offer from $500,00 to between $1 million and $1.5 million.
**Translation from the Aparicio article that was originally in Spanish**
Valeriu Argeasala, president of Steaua, said via telephone yesterday that sent its latest bid by Toja on Friday and that only lack of acceptance of the directive from FC Dallas to close the deal.“I hope that (Toja) comes to Romania this week,” said Argeasala, who argued that the amount of your offer was confidential.
The possible transfer of former River Plate of Argentina and Santa Fe de Bogota has caused a stir in the Romanian media, which occurs as a redemption.
Michael Hitchcock, general manager of Dallas, acknowledged that negotiations with the Romanian club still ongoing and that sent a counteroffer to Steaua.
“We want what is best for the club and for Toja,” said Hitchcock, nor the amount confirmed by the club’s policy of reserving the contractual terms of his players.
To me those sound like words of a sale by Dallas. They know Toja is long gone here. His coach Schellas Hyndman told Buzz Carrick this little number today at practice on the transfer:
That’s a deserving number. He’s a great player and we would definitely miss one of our all-stars. I want what he wants and it might undermine my career. But I really believe that relationships between players and coaches are the same. It’s what can you do for the team? What can I do for the team? What can you do for yourself and what can I do for myself and maybe we can go the same direction. If it’s the best for Juan, I have always said I’ll support you. But there’s also a sense of obligation to this team and to the city to do well. It’s a fine line there but as always, I’ m very supportive.
If that doesn’t sound like they are selling Toja then I don’t know what does. The club isn’t really talking about it right now but from the looks of things Thursday night’s All-Star game may be the last time we see Toja in a MLS uniform. I still have my theory that he was selected for the All-Star game so the league could get a higher offer from the Romanian side. Who knows how much that is true but it sounds pretty good to me.
What does Dallas do without Toja? What they are doing now. A slight fire sale if you will that will continue into the winter. Sad to see Dallas expend so much talent over a short amount of time if you ask me. They’ve gone through the likes of Ronnie O’Brien, Carlos Ruiz, Clarence Goodson, and now possibly Toja.
Most here in Dallas hope the club does the right thing with some of this transfer money and give Kenny Cooper a big fat raise.
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