While most fans of the American game insist that their Major League Soccer is better than a "retirement league" for aging international stars, Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) would like to fight that notion with every headline than can buy. The owners of both the LA Galaxy and Houston Dynamo franchises, AEG has now been reported to be adding Inter Milan midfielder and Portuguese folk hero Luis Figo to one of their rosters. Goal.com links the 35-year-old to a two-year deal with AEG worth roughly 3.5M a year. If we can call a spade a spade here, if Figo joins the Dynamo we will eat our hat. The odds of Beckham getting his former Real Madrid teammate to join him in LA are ridiculously high, and its pretty fair to speculate that MLS will find some way to let LA keep Figo without arranging for another Designated Player slot. Then again, Houston could always trade their unused roster spot to LA , ie themselves, for a 3rd round pick and a cooler of Gatorade. Dynamo fans would be encouraged to light more than smoke bombs if they get the lemon-lime flavored end of that deal.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-31-2007 @ 6:49PM
YankeeFooty said...
I'm with you. I don't think there is ANY chance that Figo is headed to Houston. AEG is selling Houston to Oscar De La Hoya's group as the league wants then to be down to one owner one club. Thats why AEG sold Chicago this past fall.
I'd be shocked if Figo is anywhere else but LA.
Oh yeah, speaking of MLS here is a really good MLS supporters video looking back at 2007:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg16DwgN39U
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1-01-2008 @ 3:35PM
Gabe said...
It's not like Houston needs a DP, as they have some of the top American and Canadian talent, although the former tends to be unsung. Not to mention we don't have a DP because we are just that cool.
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1-02-2008 @ 11:34AM
bluemeanies said...
I'll actually be contrarian and say that I will be more surprised if Figo goes to LA than if he goes to no team or some non-AEG team. The rumor started with a portuguese paper that appeared to be not aware that Chicago had been sold and thus linked him with one of three AEG teams. So New England, Toronto or NY after the unceremonious dumping of Claudio Reyna seem as likely. Lets also throw in Dallas, RSL, San Jose and Colorado. Or perhaps back to Saudi Arabia. Or maybe retirement. Yes, I'm not at all sold on the reliability and accuracy of these rumors, why do you ask?
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1-02-2008 @ 3:47PM
irishoutsider said...
If the rumor is linked to AEG, only LA and Houston are options for Figo. The teams you mention do have available DPs, but the story isn't about them. If the rumor is true, smart money puts Figo in LA.
And yes, we need a "wild speculation" category for filing all of this transfer fun.
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