Photo: Earl Gardner
Philadelphia Union announced on Tuesday that Michael Lahoud has been sold to NASL-side Miami FC.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed in the Union announcement or the announcement from Miami FC. However, ESPN’s Taylor Twellman tweeted after the transfer was officially announced that his sources said the Union received $300,000 for the midfielder.
Lahoud was loaned by Philadelphia to NASL-side New York Cosmos in January before the start of the 2016 MLS season in exchange for Walter Restrepo.
The latest salary numbers from the MLS Players Union have Lahoud’s base salary with the Union at $110,000, $115,637.50 guaranteed. Presumably, that’s money that can now be redistributed to other players in the form of new contracts or used on a new signing.
Lahoud arrived at the Union in May of 2012 in the trade that sent Danny Califf to Chivas USA. Lahoud has made 58 appearances for Philadelphia in league play, including 19 in 2015 with 14 starts.
Lahoud did not appear for the Cosmos in Sunday’s win over Tampa Bay Rowdies. Miami FC are struggling in their inaugural NASL season and are currently in last place with a 0-3-4 record.
Union head coach Jim Curtin said, “There are some things going on right now. Nothing’s finalized so I’m not able to comment on any details of it, but there’s something in the works, it’s an accurate report.”
Solid human being. From helping build a school in Sierra Leone to his “Kick Ebola In The Butt” campaign the world can use more athletes that gave back so much.
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Best of luck to Michael (just not against the Union)!
Wow, $300k?? I mean, Mike’s a great guy and decent player but that’s quite a haul, right?
This makes sense to me. The questions is it for a move in the summer or just to allow for flexibility? Or is it just to throw us all off to what is actually going on?
So does Restrepo go back to Cosmos?
that would free up some more striker money
No,judging by what his “page” says on the Union website, the Union acquired Restrepo on a transfer fee, he remains ours. It was not a reciprocal loan for loan, I think I remember correctly.
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The key factor upon which to focus as we evaluate this deal is the Salary Cap, not the absolute cash. No doubt realizing three hundred thousand in a presumed transfer fee is a good thing, but having the room to spend it is the key, either for giving the deserving raises (if the deserving are on the salary cap portion of the roster, that is to say the so-called “senior roster.”), or for acquiring further players. Oh to be a fly on the wall of Chris Albright’s office.
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We should all take note that Keegan Rosenberry is not on the senior roster, at the moment, by my estimation; Richie Marquez probably is, even though his age and salary qualify him not to be, because you have to have a minimum of eighteen players on your senior roster or you incur some kind of a charge from the league for every senior roster slot unfilled to make the threshold. I doubt the Union are willing to pay such a charge, for some funny reason.
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You can only have 4 player on that supplemental roster (All Generation adidas players go there, plus anyone who makes the senior minimum can go there up to a maximum of 4). Those salaries don’t count against the cap. Lahoud was on the salary list, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we were paying his salary against the cap. We probably were though, you know, because MLS.
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The big issue is the disbursement of the transfer funds. We only get 2/3 of that cash (you know, because MLS), and we must use that cash in one of 2 ways: 1. To spend on a new or existing DP or 2. Take it as General Allocation Money, but only up to 650k, and I believe it cannot be traded (You know, because MLS. Theme Noted.)
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Basically the league does its best to force teams to reinvest that money into the team ASAP. It’s a good sign.
Thank you Mike for being a good player, a great person, and a proud representative of the Union. Good luck!
Absolutely. A better man than not just other pro athletes to whom he gets compared, but also to the everyday people. I wish nothing but the best for Mike. He can even score against the Union, just as long as we still manage to win.
I was initially surprised about this, as I figured the Union would call Lahoud back into the fold next season when BC retires. But if they really got $300K for him, that’s amazing. He is a solid (if inconsistent) player, but how is he worth that much? And how does an NASL team have that much money to spend on a D-mid??
remember that transfer fees involve the league getting its cut.
I’d like to know what happens with Lahoud’s salary… One of the oddities of interleague transfers in MLS is that every player’s contract is with the League. If sold to MLS, I would imagine he needs to re-nogotiate a deal? I would love to read about how that works.
From a quality of person standpoint, that roster spot was one of the best in Union history. First Danny Califf then Michael Lahoud. Two class individuals.
Im confused about his salary coming off the books now. What was the point of the loan if his salary still counted against the cap? was it just that they felt he was so far down the depth chart that he wouldnt play in philly so they wanted him to get minutes with NY? wouldnt BSFC have been a good destination instead?
regardless this is some good business.
As quickly as this all seemed to happen after the salary announcements I got to think selling Lahoud was always in the plans they just couldn’t get it done previously cause there were no suitors. It would not surprise me to see one or two other players permanently dropped to BSFC or sold Earnie needs roster space and cap space to make his moves. And I am starting to think more and more that they want to make moves in this break period.
Met Lahoud at a charity event a few years ago. Great guy and talked soccer with him for about fifteen minutes. I’ve always rooted for him and wish him the best.
Always like Lahoud but it’s clear he didn’t fit anymore. Would really like if we could figure out if his salary was still being counted against the cap when he was loaned.