[1:23 pm] From today’s GSP.ro:
E Toja! Jucătorul şi-a dat acordul, iar Becali i-a anunţat ieri prin fax pe americani că e de acord cu preţul fixat, 500.000 de dolari pentru un transfer definitiv
Cine e jucătorul despre care Gigi Becali a spus la finalul amicalului cu Beşiktaş că “va fi ultimul transfer al Stelei în această vară”? Surse din club au dezvăluit că este vorba despre columbianul Toja, aşa cum Gazeta a anunţat încă de acum două săptămîni (foto).
8 străini va avea Steaua în lot după aducerea lui Toja, jumătate dintre ei fiind extracomunitari: Zapata, Emeghara, Dayro şi Toja
A urmat un schimb de faxuri între gruparea din Ghencea şi cea din Dallas. Americanii au solicitat 500.000 de dolari în schimbul fotbalistului, iar Gigi Becali a cerut termen de gîndire. Apoi li s-a cerut părerea celorlalţi columbieni din lotul Stelei, Zapata şi Dayro Moreno, despre Toja. Referinţele au fost dintre cele mai bune, cei doi sud-americani spunîndu-le şefilor că ar fi o investiţie excelentă, aşa că Steaua a trimis oferta oficială în America. Zilele viitoare vor fi semnate actele, iar Toja va ajunge la Bucureşti.
[1:39 pm] Got a real, live Romanian native speaker to help me translate:
It’s Toja! The player gave his approval, and Becali let the Americans know [yesterday, meaning July 16, 2008] by FAX that he agrees with the $500K price for a permanent transfer.
Who is the player that Gigi Becali has said at the end of the friendly with Besiktas that “it will be the last transfer this summer for Steaua“? Club sources revealed that it is the Colombian Toja, as our paper [Gazeta] announced even two weeks ago.
Steaua will have eight foreigners on its team after bringing Toja, half of them being from outside the EU: Zapata, Emeghara, Dayro, and Toja.
An exchange of FAXes followed between Ghencea and the Dallas clubs. The Americans requested $500K for the footballer, and Gigi Becali requested time to think. Then the asked the other Colombian players from Steaua, Zapata and Moreno about Toja. The references were only the best and the 2 South Americans told the bosses that it would be an excellent investment, so Steaua sent the official offer to the U.S. In the next days, the papers will be signed and Toja will arrive in Bucharest.
Many thanks to Finley Lacatusu, Los Toros’s official translator of bad news!
[4:39 pm] Buzz reports that Toja’s staying put:
“As far as I’m concerned Toja is a FC Dallas player,” said Hyndman. “Unless of course the numbers are so crazy we can’t not do it. Juan Toja is a very valuable member of this team. He’s going to the All-Star game. All teams want to get better and he’s a good player so people want to sign him. We’ve had trade offers from several MLS teams for him and quite a few teams from other countries have made offers.”
That’s enough foray into mls-rumors.net terror-itory for one linguistically-inclined Toro. Although I’m fully aware that Becali is crazy enough to throw crazy money at FCD, I’m going to sleep well tonight knowing that JT (at least the ‘08 edition) is safe at home.
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OMG . . . Now, if this is REALLY happening, why is it so QUIET here? Toja can agree to it (okay, and I can understand WHY he would jump at the chance to play in Europe and to play with other NT members), but that doesn’t mean MLS/FCD has to. And my feelings are that if this is actually happening, then FCD/MLS should insist that they wait until the END of the season. If FCD/MLS lets this happen now 9at this point in the season), they will have done the one thing that completely alienates this fan. (insert mad-face “smilie”).
All of SH’s (public) comments have been that he’s sticking with Toja and wants to push him to be better and regain his form/skill. And for his own sake, even, JT should see this through. Maybe all of the negative stuff that’s gone on this year, combined with the fact that this IS a good opportunity for him, has JT wanting to throw in the towel and leave right now. . . I hope not. This just stinks.
Thanks for the updates, Steve. I’ll go cry into my coffee now . . .
Nice catch, SteveToro. Your Romanian contacts helped you get a leg up on the reporters. If I were you I’d send something out to SI and try to get on Truth and Rumors.
I’ve pinged Ives and Buzz about it. Who knows what’s true? These things always fall apart, don’t they? But I like the conspiracy theory angle: was Toja named to the MLS All-Star Game to get a better offer from Becali, a Trump-like zillionaire?
I can’t imagine that you would head out there for any other reason than money. MLS has to be on par with that league.
He would head “out there” to play with fellow Colombians who are already on the NT, as a way to increase his chances of ever making the Colombian NT . . . that I could see. Still, someone needs to either confirm or deny these reports. It’s annoying and depressing.
GSP.ro is (from what I hear) a “reliable” source, akin to SI or ESPN here.
Playing for Steaua is superior to playing for FC Dallas. Its unfortunate but true. Its a huge team with a nice sized budget.
Romania has the 7th best league in Europe, ahead of Portugal, Netherlands, and Scotland. And he’ll be going to the best team in that league.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_coefficient#Current_ranking_.282009-10_UEFA_competitions.29
I’ll be sad to see him go, but it is undoubtably a step up for the player.
Just because most people can’t place Romania on a map doesn’t mean MLS is a better league. Romania is a pretty big country with a pretty significant soccer presence. I can think of 3-4 Romanians who, had they been Americans, would be the best player on our NT. Romania is 12th on the FIFA NT list, whereas the USA is 30th.
Can we talk about the fact that Dax will be with us instead of at the Olympics….
Think happy thoughts
I’m just a little surprised that they could only get 500k for Toja. He hasn’t had a good season, but I think he is worth more than that… Do we blame this on the weak dollar? lol.
No doubt Steaua is a good team, and a great personal move for JT, provided he starts performing like he did last year.. because if he goes over there and stinks up the joint then it could be a very bad move for him.
So.. what does FCD get out of this, apart from one International spot, about 150k less cap space and a slight dissipation of the midfield cloud.. but not that much because JT rarely played D-Mid.
Sikora in? JT out?
oh, and Viva Saragosa!
here from the FCD blog *waves*
I’m happy to have Dax here, but crushed for HIM because we talked to him and know how much he wanted it. It’s definitely their loss, I just feel bad for Dax.
As for Toja, this is definitely a tricky one. He certainly has not been performing at his top level, based on what we’ve seen in the past. I always thought we’d lose him at some point, but I really didn’t expect it this quickly. I guess I probably should have. *shrugs*
As a Dinamo Bucuresti fan, nothing would make me happier than to stick it to Steaua… I’m still looking for more confirmation.
Buzz reports that Toja’s staying put. Well, that was a fun afternoon of drama, no?
http://www.3rddegree.net/2008/07/not-selling-toja-says-fcd/
Steaua are a bunch of cheaters anyway. They should be thrown out of the Champions League for the bribes they paid and for the racist comments their chairman has made about Hungarians. I’m cheering for Cluj this season. Not b/c I can name a single player, they’re just the sentimental pick in the battle of good versus evil.
“Reporter: Tom, it looks like these cute little girls have made it out of that armpit of a country they call Romania.”
~ South Park
From DMN: http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/soccer/stories/071808dnspotoja.662ae37f.html
Well . . I certainly can’t blame him for being excited by something like this.
“FC Dallas midfielder Juan Toja confirmed on Thursday that European club Steaua Bucharest is interested in bringing him to the Romanian soccer league.
“The Colombian international, who was added to the MLS All-Star team Thursday, said he learned on Wednesday that the clubs are negotiating. He would be cleared to transfer as soon as a deal is reached.
“Yes, there has been contact with an offer to FC Dallas”, said Toja. “I’m very interested because I can play the UEFA Cup and Champions (League), it’s an offer I have to examine.”
I still say that if FCD works a deal that a) it better be more than $500,000 US$ and b) it should happen at the END of the season, not NOW!!
The way the MLS season is set up, we can’t help but sell in the middle of the season. If we are going to pull the trigger, we should do it quickly and free up some money and that all-critical international roster spot early in the transfer window.
Plus Toja should be afforded the opportunity to go through a full pre-season with Steaua.
I say he is sellable at $1 million, though I think HSG might take as little as $750k. $500k would basically be a net loss.
Yes, I do see that point. But as has been said, it had better be for a the right price . . . maybe it would be for the best for everyone. He can be with former teammates, have the chance to make the NT, and FCD can free up a spot give the “young talent” everyone is talking about the extra space to prove themselves. . . . I doesn’t seem that he’ll ever match up to the (unfortunately?) very high expectations he set last season . . . I guess we’ll see how this plays out.
Well.. if EJ can get $4M, then Toja has to be worth more than 500k. Ok.. So I know EJ was making a lot more than Toja is now… but let’s face it… everybody knew that EJ was basically a pile of overrated dog crap.
that’s fast overrated dog crap to you, boy.
Wow, an extra $250 for the FO! We could fix the credit card machines at PHP! We could bring back Las Chicas Makitas! We could afford to… oh, the things we could do!
“We could bring back Las Chicas Makitas!’
My hubby would vote for this one and be more encouraged to renew our season tickets . . .
I think if I renewed my season tickets based upon the return of Las Chicas Makitas that my wife would divorce me.
Somehow, chicks pimping power tools doesn’t quite live up to chicks pimping tequila or some other poisonous substance.
In more important news, looks like we picked up 2 international spots:
http://worldcupway.blogspot.com/2008/07/friday-news.html
To mean this means we’re not selling Toja and we might very well be signing this Dutch dude and someone else. I hear Pescadito needs a team
” think if I renewed my season tickets based upon the return of Las Chicas Makitas that my wife would divorce me.”
I’m joking of course . . . sort of. I freely admit to him that watching soccer has a certain definite appeal for the ladies. And is why I enjoy watching the warm ups.
Nothing wrong with the “it;s okay to look” theory.
Now back to the news: I am encouraged that they traded for the 2 Int slots. Makes it easier to sign someone without having to move someone else. Oh, and if y’all recall, FCD has an open roster slot, due to Yi’s retirement and maybe another if Wags can’t make it back this season (I hope he’s okay, though!).
Steaua update (google page translating works pretty well!) . . .
-As late as yesterday, they were claiming that he would arrive by July 23rd.
-They reported on his goal last night:
(Google the article, then hit, “translate page”)
“Toja a marcat pentru FC Dallas”
- But then they actually made it sound like he MIGHT not be coming, after all. Article:
“Hyndman: “Nu ne permitem sa ne despartim de Toja” ”
I guess we’ll know the truth soon. . . . Actually, I’m torn. It would be a great chance for JT, but if he can maintain the momentum he gathered last night, I really hope he stays, for now.
I went up to the club after the game last night. After brief chats with a few players I left to head back home. On the way to the North exit, I noticed a figure dressed in black with his hands in his pocket strolling along by the West exit, trying his utmost not to be recognized. Unfortunately for him, I did recognize him and made a bee line to catch up with him. Toja is very plesant, but seems very shy. I figured my Spanish is probably worse than his English, so I spoke to him in English. I was correct.
The thought crossed my mind to say “hey.. so when you leavin for Bucharest?”, but I figure that the guy was nice enough to stop and chat, so why put him on the spot.
At the end of the day I hope that he gets to do whatever is best for him and his family.
From all that I have ever heard and read about him since he came to FCD, he is all class. He deserves the best.
Whoever told you that GSP is like ESPN or SI lied - GSP sucks. I thought that was the worst choice … then you just had to go and quote Fanatik.. Ugh.
I`m from Romania…and here it`s said that Saturday Toja will be in Bucharest…
I don`t know why you don`t agree that Toja come here… Steaua is the best romanian team who is playing in every year in UCL
Toja is what steaua needs to be a solid team cuz his left side was his week part in the last season and if the transfer would be done he would surely be over the current left midfielder that Steaua has..an anti-talent Banel Nicolita but with very much stamina:)
And not to mention about the bonuses that every player including toja would receive for acheiving the objectives..200k euros for qualification in the UEFA Champions League Group Stage, and about 150k euros for winning the championship:)
Toja would be very well paid and he deserves because he’s a very valuable player!