Per The Athletic Minnesota’s Jeff Rueter, Minnesota United has traded winger Sam Nicholson to the Colorado Rapids for full back Eric Miller. The trade thrusts risky responsibility on talented but unproven Minnesota wingers.
In a trade on Tuesday night, just before the closure of the MLS Primary Transfer Window, Minnesota United has traded Scottish winger Sam Nicholson and an international spot to the Colorado Rapids for full back and Minnesota native Eric Miller and $50k in General Allocation Money.
Minnesota will have to a good portion of Nicholson’s salary as part of the deal, taking on $100k of Nicholson’s $281k salary this season, while absorbing all of Eric Miller’s modest salary.
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This trade comes as a bit of a surprise, as Nicholson had been one of United’s top and most consistent performers throughout the early days of the 2018 season. That said, there is some sense to this trade as Minnesota desperately need another quality full back to play opposite Swiss Jerome Thiesson.
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Ageing MLS veterans Marc Burch and Tyrone Mears have been underperforming thus far, and are both currently injured, while rookie Carter Manley’s “baptism by fire” hasn’t gone quite as planned, with the 21-year-old Duke prospect showing that he needs USL minutes, not MLS responsibility.
Though the Loons traded away a talented player with a lot of potential in Nicholson, the trade may very well have been worth it if Miller can bring some stability to a questionable Loons back line. Miller is an above-average full back by MLS standards and should be an improvement on the current options.
With this trade, Minnesota United are also putting a lot of faith in Peruvian international and Universitario loanee Alexi Gomez, who made his Loons debut last weekend against the Houston Dynamo with a brief, yet promising, substitute appearance.
With the season-ending injuries to Kevin Molino and Ethan Finlay, and now the departure of Nicholson, what was once Minnesota’s deepest position by far, wide midfield, is now looking a little thin, with only an inexperienced Frantz Pangop and an out-of-position Abu Danladi to back up both Gomez and either Miguel Ibarra or Darwin Quintero, whichever one doesn’t play centrally.
If Gomez can stay healthy and consistently display the quality he showed against Houston, then this could end up being a solid trade for Minnesota. It is definitely a lot of stock to put into a player whose last two loan spells in Sweden and Mexico were both cut short due to apparent attitude problems, but if the Minnesota staff are impressed with what Gomez has shown so far in training and with his commitment to the club, then why not take the risk, challenge the youngster, and strengthen a position of great weakness elsewhere in the squad.
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It will be interesting to see how Eric Miller does back home in Minnesota, and how Sam Nicholson does in Colorado, for that matter. As ever, we will not know quite how this trade plays out for several seasons. That is the nature of sport. But I am interested in your thoughts on this surprising deadline day swap. What do you think of Minnesota’s decision to trade away Nicholson? Leave your answer in the comments below.