Houston Dynamo and Mauro Manotas: Sell, sell and sell again

Houston Dynamo have reportedly received a major offer from an unnamed European club for Mauro Manotas. Given the fees reported, there is only one response for the Dynamo: sell, sell and sell again.

It is very easy to look at successfully built teams and just focus on the investment they made in the players that are actually at the team. Because these are the players that are actually making a difference, your attention is naturally drawn to them, and to the processes that led them to being there.

But some of the most successful teams, in any sport, not only acquire talent, but they trade talent too. It is the selling, and not just the buying, that is essential to smartly assembled teams.

Liverpool sold Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho and a plethora of young players to build their Jurgen Klopp juggernaut. Manchester United have fallen behind their rivals because of their inability to raise funds through selling players. Atlanta United’s process is deemed a successful one as much as because they were able to sell Miguel Almiron for a hefty profit, not just buy him in the first place.

Many teams in Major League Soccer are beginning to understand the value in smart sales. The Vancouver Whitecaps may not be very good this season, but the big-money sales of Kendall Watson and Alphonso Davies, their two best players last year, now put them in a position to make quite the rebuild.

But what is crucial in this process is selling the right players at the right time. Sell them a year early and you might not maximise their value; sell them a year late, and you may have missed the chance to bank a bucket load of cash. Just ask D.C. United if they could return to the offseason and force through a Luciano Acosta exit.

This week, it was revealed that the Houston Dynamo received substantial offer for star centre-forward Mauro Manotas. According to reports, on Monday, an unnamed European club made an offer north of the $8.5 million bid that Cruz Azul submitted for the Colombian earlier this year.

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Manotas has been a crucial part of a dangerous Houston attack over the past two years. He has scored 11 goals in 26 appearances this season, was a key part in firing the Dynamo to their 2018 U.S. Open Cup triumph, and at 24, is seen as one of the rising stars in the whole league.

However, Houston are out of the playoff picture in the Western Conference, fired Wilmer Cabrera earlier in the season amid concerns that the head coach was wasting a talented squad, and have a team and infrastructure in vast need of some serious investment.

The Houston Dynamo are perennially one of the least-invested-in teams in MLS. While that needs to change if they are to continually challenge for playoff places and domestic trophies, selling a star like Manotas, although seeming a little illogical, could be the injection of cash that is required to spruce up the team.

Manotas has been excellent for the Dynamo, yes, but he is inconsistent, not always a reliable goalscorer, and is surely looking to take the next step in his career. It might, then, be wise for Houston to cash in, while they can. This is what smart teams, because they might not get another chance to.