Photo: Stephen Speer
There’s more than one way to answer the headline’s question.
Some Union fans will answer that Jose Riasco will make Union II a better team by scoring goals, and then winning promotion to the first team and doing the same.
He will make his teams better, they will win more games, and they will become more serious contenders for their respective cups, shields, and other trophies.
Others will answer that out of those successes Ernst Tanner will sell him on to Europe. Perhaps that will be to a top-flight European player development team like Red Bull Salzburg, or if the young man is good enough directly to one of the giants themselves. And the profits will be re-invested to strengthen scouting, and the Academy’s pipeline, and to keep the Union contending both or MLS’s postseason and the Concacaf Champions League.
All are laudable, accurate answers. But there is more.
Transfermarkt reports that Tanner paid a $977k transfer fee for his new striker. The fee is not officially confirmed. And there is only speculation not confirmations why the deal took eight weeks negotiating the Byzantine labyrinths of MLS procedure after Venezuelan sources had announced it on the internet. Perhaps there was a competition. if so, Tanner won it.
It has been clear from the start that other clubs knew of Riasco and were after him. The revenues generated by the sales of Mark McKenzie and Brenden Aaronson probably provided the money Tanner used to win.
If they did, Keystone Sports and Entertainment’s business plan has just expanded its scope. It has become more ambitious. Selling greater Philly soccer talent has financed buying an international youth prospect on the open market for future resale. A new talent pool is now available.
Riasco is not the only international recruited this year to Union II. But as a striker he is the most prominent and he is the one about whom the most financial detail has been leaked.
Last year new first-team midfielder Leon Flach cited the European moves of both McKenzie and Aaronson as proving to young players like himself that North America’s MLS was a potential stepping stone to European clubs of some prominence.
Should Jose Riasco, or other Venezuelans, Colombians, or Senegalese travel that same path, the Union will be seen as a career development facilitator throughout Latin America and possibly West Africa. Such successes will generate the working capital necessary to follow the path again.
It’s such a fine line for the team. If they don’t compete for “The Cup” above everything else, eventually they will become much like Red Bull and Dallas FC. Winning the Shield was nice and other trophies are something they should try and win but other than winning CCL I believe you turn into a developmental team without competing for the ultimate goal. So far it looks like Tanner realizes that with the additions they signed this year to the first team. I think you have already seen the same thing with the other above mentioned teams.
In its brief history, the club has been competitive in all the campaigns you mentioned, and you didn’t mention the Lamar Hunt Cup. So, I politely disagree, I don’t think there’s a fine line because it’s not an either/or situation. I think they’ve done well in developing as well as competing. They have not won the top trophy in MLS but they are looking pretty freakin good this year so far.
I don’t know how many of you have played hattrick.org but this almost feels like Tanner is setting up Union II to be the feeder club / development club for the full team in the next few years. Yes, the Union may finalize the polish on some players who have proven ready to play at top level but this transfer could be Tanner’s way of widening the development funnel. It could be a very good thing for the Union.