Stephen Eustaquio

[Bdog]

He’s one player I’m really hoping makes a big upgrade in club, he deserves it. If he was American he definitely wouldn’t be still with Pacos lol. 

[yomurphy1]

I like the loan with an option to buy.

If it goes well he's playing at Porto and if it doesn't he's not stuck at the club not playing (the fear being the sheer quantity of players that go through that club). 

[Grandbloke]

2 hours ago, Bdog said:

If he was American he definitely wouldn’t be still with Pacos lol. 

Why do you say that?

[Floortom]

It’s an interesting move - Porto is a big club and they will likely be back in Champions League next year. He’ll have plenty of eyes on him, but minutes might be at a premium.

Based on reading Porto supporters’ opinion on this  - they all like Eustaqiuo and think he’ll be good depth. But they see him as a 4th CM (behind Vitinha, Uribe and Grujic) and they only play with 2 in the middle. So he would likely  be a sub option / rotational player in the near future.

Edited January 13, 2022 by Floortom

[Acid-Tone]

5 hours ago, Bdog said:

 If he was American he definitely wouldn’t be still with Pacos

This is the kind of dumb thing I would expect an American to say.

[Acid-Tone]

All the rumours hitting the press sounds like potentially good news, however most seem to mention that Porto would want to set it up as a loan with option to buy, or even possibly having a mandatory purchase at the end of the loan.  

I don't see how either of those options would be a good move for Pacos.  They are a smaller club and as such I'm sure would prefer the transfer money now to help keep them in the top flight. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

2 hours ago, Acid-Tone said:

This is the kind of dumb thing I would expect an American to say.

No, it's a smart thing a Canadian like me would agree with. 

Listen and learn a bit how about it?

[frmr]

14 hours ago, Grandbloke said:

Why do you say that?

 

11 hours ago, Acid-Tone said:

This is the kind of dumb thing I would expect an American to say.

It's not dumb and probably true for multiple reasons: a plethora of American owners in Europe and a willingness to support their own, exposure to the massive American market for kit sales, etc., visa requirements for certain countries based on Fifa ranking. And there's probably many more reasons. I'm not an expert on this sort of thing as some people are, but it's definitely a legit claim.

[Unnamed Trialist]

13 minutes ago, frmr said:

 

It's not dumb and probably true for multiple reasons: a plethora of American owners in Europe and a willingness to support their own, exposure to the massive American market for kit sales, etc., visa requirements for certain countries based on Fifa ranking. And there's probably many more reasons. I'm not an expert on this sort of thing as some people are, but it's definitely a legit claim.

Eustaquio is a perfect example of how some countries are favoured, not only through owners but also agents, longstanding biases, because anyone doing proper scouting would see what we do. The US players are moving to places at prices that we are not getting for our guys, our paths are much tougher.

But we are not being biased and overhyping him, we are all properly surprised and impressed how consistent he is, the condititioning, the smartness. If you asked me what player right now could start in La Liga, if a mid level Liga team asked me what Canadian player could help them (which of course is hypothetical), I'd say Eustaquio. Eustáquio could play for Espanyol, who I watch a lot, I have absolutely no doubt. I would not even say that about Tajon. For me there are only 4 Canadians who could play right now in La Liga: Davies, Arfield, David and Eustaquio. Then maybe Larin, depending where. 

[PiedPilko]

15 minutes ago, frmr said:

 

It's not dumb and probably true for multiple reasons: a plethora of American owners in Europe and a willingness to support their own, exposure to the massive American market for kit sales, etc., visa requirements for certain countries based on Fifa ranking. And there's probably many more reasons. I'm not an expert on this sort of thing as some people are, but it's definitely a legit claim.

I just don't know how else to explain certain moves. Sargent getting a go in EPL... Hoppe to Mallorca, Gioacchini to Bordeaux etc. These would be some of our biggest transfers, but they're just so few and far between for us.

[El Diego]

What if Eustaquio was Portuguese 🤔

[Corazon]

A Uruguayan friend I play footy with made a bold claim that Eustaquio is a better midfielder than almost all Uruguayans aside from Fede Valverde.  I'm not sure that is accurate until we see what he can do at a higher club level.  Regardless, the point that was trying to be made is that the main reason he is still stuck with Pacos still is because he plays for Canada.  Unfortunately, this is a current reality and it is not a bold claim to say that if he was American, he would have moved to a bigger club by now.

[CanadaFan123]

In Eustaquio's case it's clear that playing for Canada hasn't hurt him. He's been linked to tons of clubs but a deal hasn't been done.

The issue is that his contract/transfer situation sucks. If the club only owns 40% of him then they are likely asking for too much, and they don't really care because they're battling relegation anyhow and he's their best player. 

In terms of the Americans we have to look at it objectively. Sargent, Hoppe and Gioacchini are young players who have scored at good levels and contributed for a national team that won two trophies last year and is top 10 in the world. Norwich, Mallorca and Montpellier aren't massive clubs so it's not like they're punching way above their weight. Two of them were just promoted and Gioacchini is only on loan at Montpellier - it doesn't seem likely they'll buy him.

 

[Sal333]

9 minutes ago, Corazon said:

A Uruguayan friend I play footy with made a bold claim that Eustaquio is a better midfielder than almost all Uruguayans aside from Fede Valverde.  I'm not sure that is accurate until we see what he can do at a higher club level.  Regardless, the point that was trying to be made is that the main reason he is still stuck with Pacos still is because he plays for Canada.  Unfortunately, this is a current reality and it is not a bold claim to say that if he was American, he would have moved to a bigger club by now.

I'm sure most in the soccer biz know Eustaquio is as much Portuguese as he's Canadian.

I agree if he was American there would be a bigger demand. After all the USA's population is 330 M  whereas Canada's is only 40M - by the end of 2022.

[Xavier.]

6 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

In Eustaquio's case it's clear that playing for Canada hasn't hurt him. He's been linked to tons of clubs but a deal hasn't been done.

The issue is that his contract/transfer situation sucks. If the club only owns 40% of him then they are likely asking for too much, and they don't really care because they're battling relegation anyhow and he's their best player. 

In terms of the Americans we have to look at it objectively. Sargent, Hoppe and Gioacchini are young players who have scored at good levels and contributed for a national team that won two trophies last year and is top 10 in the world. Norwich, Mallorca and Montpellier aren't massive clubs so it's not like they're punching way above their weight. Two of them were just promoted and Gioacchini is only on loan at Montpellier - it doesn't seem likely they'll buy him.

 

If you've watched a Norwich game I can promise you Sargent is punching above his weight, he is not a Premier League player right now.

Pepi wouldn't have gone for 18 million if he picked Mexico, not a chance. American players get extra opportunity/exposure just because they are American, especially if they play for the USMNT. It's the bonus of having a lot of American investors.

[Xavier.]

Eustaquio not getting a move is significantly more because Pacos holds only 40% of his rights than because he chose CanMNT. Pacos would have to sell him at like 7 million to even match what they payed for him.

Porto were deep in talks in the summer but backed out because Pacos asked for too much. I would bet a lot of money that if Pacos held 100% of his rights he would already be on Porto.

[Sal333]

3 minutes ago, Xavier. said:

If you've watched a Norwich game I can promise you Sargent is punching above his weight, he is not a Premier League player right now.

Pepi wouldn't have gone for 18 million if he picked Mexico, not a chance. American players get extra opportunity/exposure just because they are American, especially if they play for the USMNT. It's the bonus of having a lot of American investors.

And a population of 330 M

[CanadaFan123]

5 minutes ago, Xavier. said:

If you've watched a Norwich game I can promise you Sargent is punching above his weight, he is not a Premier League player right now.

Pepi wouldn't have gone for 18 million if he picked Mexico, not a chance. American players get extra opportunity/exposure just because they are American, especially if they play for the USMNT. It's the bonus of having a lot of American investors.

I've seen him and agree he's not Premier League quality, I'm speaking about why he got the move. He was a starting striker for Werder Bremen and is only 21 years old. 

I'm not sure I agree with that wrt to Pepi. A lot of non-Americans have gone for the same amount or more out of MLS (Almiron, Davies, Pity etc.) His performances with the US certainly didn't hurt his value either but if he had those same performances with Mexico I think he would still have gone for that amount. 

Edited January 13, 2022 by CanadaFan123

[Xavier.]

2 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

I've seen him and agree he's not Premier League quality, I'm speaking about why he got the move. He was a starting striker for Werder Bremen and is only 21 years old. 

I'm not sure I agree with that wrt to Pepi. A lot of non-Americans have gone for the same amount or more out of MLS (Almiron, Davies, Pity etc.) His performances with the US certainly didn't hurt his value either but if he had those same performances with Mexico I think he would still have gone for that amount. 

Pepi to Wolfsburg was basically almost done, transfermarkt even reported it as a done deal.  Last minute an American investor in Augsburg came in and increased the bid a significant amount.

[Chad_Impact]

24 minutes ago, Xavier. said:

Eustaquio not getting a move is significantly more because Pacos holds only 40% of his rights than because he chose CanMNT. Pacos would have to sell him at like 7 million to even match what they payed for him.

Porto were deep in talks in the summer but backed out because Pacos asked for too much. I would bet a lot of money that if Pacos held 100% of his rights he would already be on Porto.

Yeah, I saw this on Twitter. Real tough situation for Stephen, sucks to see him being held back because of this. I assume it's Cruz Azul holding the rest of his rights? I wonder how much he regrets that move now. 

As for the Americans getting moves to clubs in the big 5 more often, I think a lot of it is investors wanting to see Americans and marketing potential. I don't want to be that guy that says they have no talent and are only there for marketing reasons because some of them do have some serious upside, but a lot of these moves haven't worked out. Outside of maaaybe McKennie, and Adams when he's healthy, have any of their big European league-based players played starring/major roles for their clubs? A lot are stuck on the bench or playing role player minutes. 

I'd prefer Canadians having a tougher pathway but playing significant roles wherever they are than a lot of the situations these American players are in. 

Edited January 13, 2022 by Chad_Impact

[DrunkOffPunch]

1 hour ago, Xavier. said:

Pepi to Wolfsburg was basically almost done, transfermarkt even reported it as a done deal.  Last minute an American investor in Augsburg came in and increased the bid a significant amount.

Augsburg weren’t even the highest bidder. He went there because of the opportunity to play right away, not because of some American upping the price.

[Xavier.]

2 minutes ago, DrunkOffPunch said:

Augsburg weren’t even the highest bidder. He went there because of the opportunity to play right away, not because of some American upping the price.

Not sure of the other bidders (feel free to share), but David Blitzer was a major part of the Augsburg deal.

[DrunkOffPunch]

1 hour ago, Chad_Impact said:

Outside of maaaybe McKennie, and Adams when he's healthy, have any of their big European league-based players played starring/major roles for their clubs? A lot are stuck on the bench or playing role player minutes. 
 

Pulisic literally carried Chelsea to top 4 after the Covid restart. Best EPL player during that timeframe was either him or de Bruyne. Without that form Chelsea don’t win the CL last year because they aren’t in it.

[Xavier.]

1 minute ago, DrunkOffPunch said:

Pulisic literally carried Chelsea to top 4 after the Covid restart. Best EPL player during that timeframe was either him or de Bruyne. Without that form Chelsea don’t win the CL last year because they aren’t in it.

Pulisic was very good in those 9 games. That's it for long stretches of good performances. Here and there he shows flashes. Sorry to tell you this but Pulisic does not have a major role at Chelsea. He is a rotational piece at best.

[DrunkOffPunch]

6 minutes ago, Xavier. said:

Pulisic was very good in those 9 games. That's it for long stretches of good performances. Here and there he shows flashes. Sorry to tell you this but Pulisic does not have a major role at Chelsea. He is a rotational piece at best.

He’s gone the full 90 the past 5 EPL games. Chelsea have an abundance of players and rotate quite a bit. Tuchel likes to tinker. He’s not a locked in starter but saying rotational at best is disingenuous.