A deal that we’ve been talking about for a couple weeks now. FC Dallas has announced that they have officially sold Colombian midfielder Juan Toja to Romanian side Steaua Bucuresti today.

No immediate details on the transfer were given but my sources tell me the Romanian side is set to pay a transfer fee between $1 million and $2 million.

Once I get more on this deal I will pass it along to you all.

The last 48 hours or so have been an absolute mess in the Juan Toja transfer to Romanian side Steaua Bucharest. Some reports say a deal is done, some now say the deal has hit a wall and some reports are apparently totally fake.

SO what really is going on here?

Apparently the second of those three things seems to be the one that is actually taking place. FC Dallas has Toja under contract for another two years at a nice price of $150,000. Apparently the offers from Steaua haven’t been enough for the club’s liking. It makes sense for the club to stall on this deal over money because they will want to get the most bang for their buck out of the two-time All-Star.

Late last night, Toja said he is still very interested in the move but confirmed to Ives Galarcep that the deal was not yet final.

“People talk a lot and I’ve tried to make it clear that while it is a great opportunity and we’re trying to get it done, nothing is certain yet,” Toja told SBI after the MLS All-Star Game. “The truth is nothing has happened and nothing has been signed so until something is signed then we don’t know what will happen.”

Continue Reading…

Some news on the eve of the All-Star game in Toronto. Pretty much just a follow up to last night’s topic on the possible sale of FC Dallas midfielder Juan Toja. It appears that a deal is now done.

According to Buzz Carrick at 3rdDegree.net, league sources say that Toja has been sold to Steaua Bucharest.

3rd Degree has learned from a league level source in Toronto at the All-Star game that Juan Toja has indeed been sold to Steaua Bucharest. As of this morning, Schellas Hyndman had said Toja was still a member of FC Dallas, but now our source says the deal is done and Toja will not be returning to Dallas. No word yet on the dollar amount of the transfer, but Hyndman did say that FCD placed a high value on the midfielder.

No word yet if Toja will still play in the All-Star game.

Stay tuned as we try to learn more and seek out additional confirmation.

From what I’ve heard, the transfer should come in somewhere in the $1 million mark, if not a little higher.

We all pretty much expected this to take place since the Romanian side upped their original offer for Toja. Honestly I wish him the best in Europe and hope to see him excel over there.

First year head coach Schellas Hyndman has a lot of work cut out for him here as the club really needs to act fast on this and get some new players in to improve this club. Its a tough blow for Dallas but let’s be real honest, Toja barely made an impact for the club this season. Where they go next is obvious, find an attacking midfielder along with their on-going striker search. The club will now have three open international roster spots (Toja’s old spot and the two they  trade for a week ago). I’d still like to see the club go after another defender here too.

As much as it sucks to say the league is still a feeder league. But by saying that I believe we are all going to see the better end of it before long. Younger talent like Toja will continue to see MLS as that stepping stone and will continue to want to come play in the league. That kind of attraction won’t go unnoticed here by other South American players that want to go to Europe.

It is still tough to see another quality player go during the transfer window but that is the nature of the business.

Talk in the Big D today centers around All-Star midfielder Juan Toja and his possible transfer to FC Steaua Bucure?ti 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.