The Portland Timbers officially announced the trade of forward Jeremy Ebobisse to Western Conference mates San Jose in a bit of a shock announcement on Wednesday night.
The 24-year-old attacker has been with the Portland Timbers his entire professional career. That is a bit of an obvious statement seeing as the club drafted Ebobisse back in 2017 with the 4th overall pick in the MLS Super Draft. Since then he has gone on to score 30 goals and dish out 11 assists in 109 games across all competitions for the club. While also making 22 appearances on the national team level for the USMNT, U-23s and U-20s.
Now the deal is official, the Timbers will send Ebobisse south and in exchange will receive $1.167 million dollars in targeted allocation money. Fans in Portland knew they would never see Jeremy Ebobisse in the green and gold for much longer. Though, I would doubt any expected to see him playing any of his future matches on an MLS pitch either. The young forward received a contract extension before the start of the 2020 season, it was a great gesture but nearly a year later those who follow the league expected a move across the pond to Europe, not six hundred and sixty-five miles south.
The move makes sense, but still hurts
Ebobisse was linked with rumors galore over the past year, with interest from clubs in Belgium, Germany and Sweden surfacing but never coming to fruition. The pandemic that changed the landscape of the sport and put transfers on pause internationally, is thought to have claimed his move to Europe like it did many others.
Still, it’s hard to argue whether Ebobisse has been getting the best of his playing time of late. In the Timber’s 2021 MLS campaign he’s made 13 appearances (11 starts), while scoring four goals (second on the squad). On pace to finish similarly to that of the 2020 season, which saw him tied with Diego Valeri leading the squad in goals (9) in all competitions.
Though his impact for a struggling Timber’s squad is still being felt on the pitch, his continued use out of his most effective position (center-forward) is a concern for the young goal scorer. In San Jose there is little competition for Ebobisse to earn plenty of minutes at the number nine slot. He will also train alongside the league’s all-time goal scorer and MLS legend Chris Wondolowski, which might make the move all the worthwhile by itself.
“The decision to trade a player that’s had Jeremy Ebobisse’s impact can never be taken lightly. We know what he has meant to our team, club, and community. Our partnership with Jeremy has always been true to what’s best for all parties. This decision allows Jeremy to continue pursuing his career objectives while putting this club in a stronger position to manage its roster commitments going forward through acquiring a considerable amount of allocation money,” said Timbers general manager and president of soccer, Gavin Wilkinson.
The Timbers financial strength
Lastly, this was a move forced by Major League Soccer’s salary-cap structure. With his contract extension last season, Ebobisse was making a base salary of $600,000 per year with $691,250 guaranteed per the MLS Player’s Association Website. Even though Portland will pay some of this salary in 2021, this move along with the incoming TAM received will give the club funds to make further acquisitions down the road to strengthen the squad. While also giving a young player a chance to grow and possibly achieve his dream move sooner than later. To describe it best here is an excerpt from Richard Farley’s Why it Matters piece on the move.
“As the deal is structured, the Timbers are getting large amounts of general allocation money in each of the next two seasons. That money can be used to extent the team’s budget by cancelling out some of costs against the salary cap. Plus, because Major League Soccer keeps a percentage of transfer fees when players are sold outside the league, trading Ebobisse for GAM keeps the Timbers from having to pay a tax, of sorts, on their player’s sale.”
To wrap this up, fans in Portland are disappointed in how this turned out. A fan favorite going to a conference competitor is the least glamorous way to lose a player like Jeremy. But fans of Ebobisse, and I can assure you there are still plenty of those in Portland as well as those like myself across the nation, will root for him to score goals and secure his move to Europe nonetheless. I know I will, if by chance you read this, thanks Jebo!