Stoke City says it has reached an agreement to acquire midfielder Brek Shea from Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas for a reported £3.8m ($6m). At $6m, that would make the Shea deal the second largest transfer fee MLS has ever received.
The only one bigger would have been Jozy Altidore’s move to Villareal, which fetched a reported fee of $10 million. The only other one in contention would be Eddie Johnson’s move to Fulham, when MLS reportedly cleared $6 million.
Stoke said on its website Today that the 22-year-old was in England, underwent a medical exam necessary to finalize the deal and attended the 2-2 tie against Wigan. Shea also must obtain a British work permit.
“I think it is close now, and we are hoping that we can get that deal done in the next day or so,” Stoke manager Tony Pulis was quoted as saying.
“Brek is a very, very exciting player, and one who we believe could go on to become a very good player for the Football Club.
“He has terrific pace, a very good left foot and he is capable of scoring goals. If you look at the clippings of him on the internet then you will see what he is all about. I believe he has all the tools needed to be a success here, so hopefully we can get the deal done.”
Shea has played for Dallas since 2008 and is recovering from November surgery on his right foot. He has no goals in 15 appearances for the U.S. national team. He would join American defender Geoff Cameron on Stoke.
So this is obviously a good move for Shea, but what does it mean for FC Dallas? According to Big D Soccer, FC Dallas will receive the maximum $650,000 in allocation, clear Shea’s $354,000 salary off the books and be given about $3.3 million to reinvest into soccer operations.
Put another way, FC Dallas cleared enough salary cap room to sign two Designated Players and still have enough to sign another player making almost as much as Shea was. They also have enough cash money to pay for three transfers of similar amounts as they paid for Fabian Castillo. Used properly, this one transfer can totally remake FC Dallas.
