Grizzly Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Since various info about him is appearing in several threads I think we should start a dedicated one. Here is something from the German press about Cologne's interest in him. Bernier's manager (not sure if they mean club manager or agent) says Cologne is interested in him but is not sure if they have made a concrete offer. Bernier then says he has not received a concrete offer from Cologne and would prefer to transfer to Spain (first we have heard about that). His contract is not up until the summer and Tromso are stating that if he transfers before the Jan. 31st deadline they will not let him go cheaply. Der 1. FC Köln hat Interesse am kanadischen Mittelfeldspieler. Dies bekräftigte Berniers Manager Torgeir Knutsen gegenüber der norwegischen Zeitung „Aftenbladet“. „Köln hat in jedem Fall Interesse, aber ich weiß nicht, ob sie schon ein konkretes Angebot vorgelegt haben“, wird der Manager zitiert. Der Vertrag des kanadischen Nationalspielers beim norwegischen Eliterserien-Klub Tromsø würde bis Sommer laufe. Der Spieler selbst hat bereits mehrmals signalisiert diesen nicht verlängern zu wollen und lieber ins Ausland zu wechseln. „Vorläufig habe ich noch kein konkretes Angebot von Köln, am liebsten würde ich aber nach Spanien gehen.“, meint Bernier. Bei Tromsø will man sich noch nicht öffentlich dazu äußern, nur dass man den Spieler sicher nicht billig ziehen lassen wolle. Sollte Barnier wirklich zum FC Köln wechseln, dass müsste dieser Wechsel noch vor dem 31. Jänner geschehen, danach wäre er erst wieder im Sommer zu haben. http://www.goal.com/de/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=211645 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Start fan in exile Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Patrice has been quoted in Norwegian media before as stating he would like to play in Spain. I'm not sure he's the right type of player for Spain. He's excellent in Norway, and I'm sure he would do well in Germany. He's got the quality to be a starter in the 1. Bundesliga, but I'm not sure he's high profile enough to attract any attention from any clubs in the German top flight. Köln want him now as they are desperately chasing promotion, but Tromsø won't let him go cheaply. I'm not sure Köln would want to pay the price, and the summer will be too late for them. We'll see how it goes - right now I'd say it's 50/50 he'll still be playing in Norway in July. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 I have to agree with you that his style of play seems more suited for the Bundesliga than Spain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bxl Boy Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 There's a whole file about him and his transfer in Norwegian media http://www.moss-dagblad.no/mfk-magasinet/article2508929.ece They speak about the Toronto FC, Besiktas (the only concrete offert until now), breaking with his manager If someone can read and translate the major parts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Start fan in exile Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Bxl Boy There's a whole file about him and his transfer in Norwegian media http://www.moss-dagblad.no/mfk-magasinet/article2508929.ece They speak about the Toronto FC, Besiktas (the only concrete offert until now), breaking with his manager If someone can read and translate the major parts... The jist of the article is that he won't be renewing his contract with his agent - he's disappointed that the agent has not been able to find him a new club on the continent. He'll be operating without an agent for the time being. Otherwise, he's recovering from an off-season operation and expects to be back on the training field in early February. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 Does he have a current offer from Besiktas or is that referring to the interest shown in him by Besiktas a few years ago? Besiktas would seem to be the most attractive club of those mentioned so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bxl Boy Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 Thanks Start fan Did you read the linked articles too ? They also seem interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Start fan in exile Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 The Besiktas interest referred to is that of a couple of years ago. Yeah, the I did read the linked article. The one from Bladet Nordlys is the same thing with more detail - Bladet Nordlys is tha local paper in Tromsø, while the article you found is in Moss Dagblad, where Patrice used to play. He's still popular in Moss. The other linked articles are just the ones from the past few months - about his desire to leave Norway, the contract offer from Start, etc. There is nothing concrete or new about his transfer situation. Patrice needs to weigh his options carefully. While he does have undeniable quality, he's not attractive or well-known enough to end up with a top team in a top league - even as a bosman. He could very well end up with some obscure team in a mid-level league where no one will hear of him, and he'll never play UEFA competitions. He was noticed on the continent during Tromsø's UEFA cup run, and if he wants to make a splash he should sign with a team in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium or a similar league - and make sure it is a team well placed to make a small splash in Europe this year or next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 Think he'd be better off at Toronto FC personally. The fact that he has not had offers shows how off the beaten track Tromso is in European terms. Plenty of attention will be paid to MLS now that Beckham is on board and he can always use the Canadian national team to showcase himself to bigger European clubs. Lars Hirschfeld got a contract from Tottenham Hotspur based on his goalkeeping heroics in the Gold Cup for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rednwhite Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly His contract is not up until the summer and Tromso are stating that if he transfers before the Jan. 31st deadline they will not let him go cheaply. Tromsø hasn't set any asking price for him, as far as I know, but newspapers speculated that Tromsø could have cashed in anything between $300K-450K if Bernier had signed with Köln. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 He's on a Bosman free transfer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bxl Boy Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 No need to bring back the Blizzard, you're already stuck in it... You overoveroverrrrate the MLS (not surprising) Bernier contract finishes this summer, so he's not free to leave now Can one of the Norwegians tell us if Cologne is still a possibility for Bernier, or if he has to search elsewhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesW Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Bxl Boy You overoveroverrrrate the MLS (not surprising) And you underrate it. But that is not on topic. I hope he goes to Germany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 Does the name Jim Brennan ring a bell, Bxl Boy? CMNT players can be attracted back from bigger leagues than the top tier in Norway. He can sign a pre-contract now and Tromso could not reasonably expect much as a transfer fee if his new club wanted to take him straight away and if they do it is just a case of waiting for the next window to get him for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rednwhite Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 The interest from Köln cooled as the found out he just had a surgery, but they wanted him for their mid-season training camp. I assume Bernier will stay with Tromsø as he isn't expected to be fit until February/March. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David C. Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Start fan in exile The jist of the article is that... ...He'll be operating without an agent... ...he's recovering from an off-season operation... That's a pretty bad combination. I agree with rednwhite that nothing will hapen until one or both of these get settled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted January 17, 2007 Author Share Posted January 17, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Bxl Boy You overoveroverrrrate the MLS (not surprising) I think most Europeans underrate the MLS. In talking with you I think you vastly overrate both the Juliper league and the lower Belgian divisions. Take Anderlecht, Brugge and maybe one other team from the Belgian league and you have a bunch of MLS level clubs with the lower table teams being around the level of the Impact (which is a much better team than a 3rd division Belgian team as you once claimed). It is one thing for Europeans in Big 4 league countries to be arrogant about North American soccer but another thing for those with mediocre leagues themselves to do so. If the current offers are Tromso, Start and Cologne, TFC is not a bad alternative. All are playing in leagues of similar level. Cologne might have a bit of an advantage in that they are the only one that could promote to a higher league (though I am sceptical it will be this year) and also would give him exposure in a major soccer country. Tromso I would definitely stay away from because they turned down his big opportunity to transfer to Besiktas and seem to be bargaining hard now (it is their right to do so but doesn't provide much incentive for him to resign if they are going to scupper the next big transfer request he gets). If he could come up with a deal with TFC in which he could get out of his contract for a reasonable transfer fee that might be the best possibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Start fan in exile Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 One factor that may still play into it is salary. If Bernier were to sign with Start he would command a salary in the neighbourhood of $400K, and unless I am completely wrong, most MLS players receive a fair bit less. Bernier certainly won't command a Beckham-like salary [] ! Also, should Start or Tromsø (or another team og similar quality in another league) qualify to play in Europe, it would provide Patrice with exposure he will never get playing in the MLS. The fact that Besiktas made an offer after Tromsø's UEFA run is proof of that (and they probably shot themselves in the foot not selling him, not just for Patrice's sake but also their attractiveness for other players) I've seen a lot of MLS soccer, and don't underestimate it; the level of play is not bad at all and the top teams would certainly achieve respectable showings in Norway, Sweden, Belgium or the like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 I suspect most Norwegian players earn considerably less than $400k as well. If he is seen as good enough to merit it that sort of money can happen in MLS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 quote:Originally posted by BringBackTheBlizzard I suspect most Norwegian players earn considerably less than $400k as well. If he is seen as good enough to merit it that sort of money can happen in MLS. Maybe, but i doubt they would. Most teams in MLS will pay a Gomez, Moreno, Guevara that type of money, but not a Canadian holding mid. As for TFC, MoJo only has 700K left in cap room for 6 players and already has 2 decent holding mids (by MLS standards) on the roster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 Bernier is usually described as an attacking midfielder and he is the sort of returning national team player (in a Toronto FC context) that normally goes through the allocation signing mechanism. Where salary cap money is concerned Maurice Edu as a Generation Adidas player does not count against the cap and I doubt Andrew Boyens is on an astronomical amount so there is more money left to be spent on fewer players than you are making out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Start fan in exile Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 quote:Originally posted by BringBackTheBlizzard Bernier is usually described as an attacking midfielder He's been playing a holding/defensive mid role for Tromsø, and one of his most prized skills in Norway is an ability to orchestrate the attack from the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 There is more to his game than that terminology often implies, however. Just a reminder for people that he is seen as more than just a "ball winner":- http://www.rosenborg.info/article/4087 All autumn it has been speculated that Per-Mathias Høgmo plans a reunion with the Canadian international that he bought to TIL in July 2004. "He is the best midfielder in the Tippeliga. He gives us a new dimension with his play, where he can feint off a couple of players and create unbalance for the opposing side. He is good with the ball, has a good overlook and makes good passes," Høgmo stated at that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 quote:Originally posted by BringBackTheBlizzard Bernier is usually described as an attacking midfielder and he is the sort of returning national team player (in a Toronto FC context) that normally goes through the allocation signing mechanism. Where salary cap money is concerned Maurice Edu as a Generation Adidas player does not count against the cap and I doubt Andrew Boyens is on an astronomical amount so there is more money left to be spent on fewer players than you are making out. Bernier is not an attacking mid, he's a holding mid. Secondly, TFC has 700K left under the cap, this is a fact. Ask Mo Johnston if you don't believe me, he said it prior to the draft. You think having Ronnie O'Brien, Jose Cancela, Alecko Eskandarian and Edson Buddle under contract all close to around 150K is not going to chew into the cap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 The role played by a central midfielder for a particular team depends upon the tactical system favoured by the coach. Bernier is a lot more than just a defensive ball winning type player sitting in front of a defence told to win the ball and then dish it off quickly to a more talented teammate with a short simple pass. He has played quite a bit on the right as well as in central midfield for what it's worth. Are you aware that "allocation money" (i.e. the stuff that Mo has been hording up) can and often is used towards salary paid over and above the cap and that Toronto FC was given $US 900k of it (three major allocations) to help them become competitive as quickly as possible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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