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Ruh-oh.
It appears the league may have refused to pull the trigger on a deal to bring David Ousted to LA. Per NBC Sports:
Pro Soccer Talk has learned through an MLS league source familiar with the situation that the LA Galaxy had a deal in place to acquire Vancouver Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted using Targeted Allocation Money (TAM), however, the league rejected that offer.
The 32-year-old took to Twitter on Friday, stating that a total of three teams offered him a contract using TAM, however, none of them were able to be executed.
It was announced back on Nov. 7 that Ousted would not return to the Whitecaps for the 2018 season, after spending nearly four-and-a-half years with the Canadian side.
1. Due to «blacklist of players» TAM rules in MLS, I have not been able to agree to terms with 3 teams offering me my option year salary by using TAM.
— David Ousted (@David_Ousted) December 15, 2017
2. For this reason, I have been forced to opt out of Re-Entry Draft today as no team can actually enforce my option unless they go over budget and gamble. #ontheblacklist
— David Ousted (@David_Ousted) December 15, 2017
#MLS #PlayerUnion?
Ousted’s pay was scheduled to increase to $504,375 in 2018, putting the Danish net minder above the TAM threshold. Obviously the league wasn’t comfortable with the idea of a veteran commanding a half a million dollar salary and felt compelled to step in.
What do you think of the league’s ruling? Is this a case of classic MLS tomfoolery, or a smart business decision?