Buenas noches, dulce príncipe. Y que coros de ángeles arrullen tu descanso. Fotografia de Francisco Chung.
After weeks of speculation, Andy Najar’s transfer to Belgian side RSC Anderlecht was finalized yesterday afternoon. The deal, said to be worth around $3 million, marks the first time an MLS “homegrown” player has made a permanent move to Europe and ends months of speculation swirling around the young Honduran. We’ve gathered some of our fellow capital area soccer writers (and the only Red Bulls fan we tolerate) and asked them to share their thoughts on the deal.
Seth Vertelney, Goal.com, @svertgoalcom: Andy Najar is going to Anderlecht and for all parties, it’s a move that makes sense. Though he’s just 19, Najar had played three full seasons in MLS. After a Rookie of the Year campaign at just 17, the question became when, not if he would move to Europe. He’s at a top side in a league that’s not too strong for him to get regular playing time. He’ll be surrounded by the best players in the Jupiler Pro League and as an added bonus, he’ll have an ex-MLSer in Sacha Kljestan as a teammate as well.
For D.C. United, getting 75 percent of a reported $3 million fee will go a long way towards both purchasing more talent for the first team, and developing the next Najar in the academy (maybe literally the next Najar, as Andy’s brothers Denis and Cristhyan are both in DCU’s academy). On the field, Chris Korb is an extremely viable replacement at right back should Daniel Woolard stay healthy enough to man left back. If not, Robbie Russell is a capable veteran as well. It always hurts losing an electrifying talent like Najar, but in this case, it’s a good move for everybody.
Thomas Floyd, The Washington Times, @thomasfloyd10: Yes, Andy Najar was a joy to watch over the past three seasons. And the arc that took him from D.C. United’s youth academy to the Belgian champions is one that further entrenches his former club as the league’s gold standard for cultivating homegrown talent. But after a rookie year during which he was the star attraction for United, he didn’t evolve into the all-league standout many D.C. fans hoped for, instead taking a secondary role as Dwayne De Rosario, Chris Pontius and Perry Kitchen took center stage. So all things considered, it’s hard to look at Najar’s transfer as anything but a positive for player and club. United get a nice payday—and a boost in reputation—in exchange for a player who was a bit of a luxury. Najar, meanwhile, gets to fulfill his European dream and take a key step forward in his development. Everybody wins.
Charles Boehm, Potomac Soccer Wire, @CBoehm: There’s a cold, hard pecking order in world soccer that sees most of the planet’s best players gravitate towards the bright lights and big money of European clubs. Major League Soccer’s up-and-comer status on this landscape means that the league’s most skilled and ambitious talents are usually drawn in that direction sooner or later, whether fans and league executives like it or not.
Anyone who watched Andy Najar when he first exploded onto the MLS scene in 2010 had to suspect that the precocious teenage dribbling wizard was not long for D.C. United. A small, shy child of undocumented immigrants from Honduras, Andy had fallen into the club’s lap a few years prior when a United scout spotted him playing high-school ball in Alexandria, and he was promptly whisked into the club’s youth academy system. Despite little formal coaching in his younger days (besides the backyard lessons of his father, a former pro back in Santa Cruz, Choluteca), he scaled the ranks with the ease and confidence of a D.C. squirrel clambering up an oak tree.
To nearly everyone’s shock, the nation’s top pro league was mastered nearly as rapidly, first as an Energizer Bunny of a right midfielder, and later as an attacking-minded fullback. And with each highlight-reel dribble and lung-bursting run, United fans, in their heart of hearts, grew a little more resigned to his eventual departure.
He leaves D.C. as a vastly more polished, but still incomplete player, and there’s no telling just how high his ceiling will be as he dives into the fertile development environment waiting for him at Belgian champions RSC Anderlecht. And while it proved to be an all-too-fleeting waypoint on his meteoric professional rise, at least our city will remain home for Andy and his family.
Dan Dickinson, Gothamist, @GothamistDan: I can’t really speak to Andy Najar’s talent, as he never really terrorized the Red Bulls ala Pontius or DeRo. He only played 415 minutes against NY—never getting a shot on target—and really only stood out when he got his red card during the playoffs last year. He had a reputation as a strong young player, certainly, but I never got much of a chance to see it.
What does strike me about this move is that this off-season has been quite full of visible players departing the league. It’s young talent the league had been hyping jumping to Europe (Najar, Kei Kamara, and Brek Shea). It’s been talent in their prime moving on for what look like greener pastures (Fredy Montero, Roger Espinoza, Roger Torres). It’s DP busts being excised, like Kris Boyd and Hamdi Salihi and Rafa Marquez (thank you, based Roxburgh). It’s weirdness, like Kevin Hartman not landing anywhere. I generally don’t mind the turnover, but I ran the numbers this evening, and there’s 50 more transactions on the “out” board than the “in.” That’s a lot of roster spots to refill, and with Europe’s transfer windows closing today, I’m not sure how the league as a whole is going to reload.
Pablo Maurer, DCist, @DCUist: It’s obviously tough to lose Andy. In more ways than one—though inconsistent, he remained one of United’s most electrifying players. Fans at RFK will certainly miss his footwork, speed and tenacity, and they’ve formed a special bond with him over the years; he’s a hometown kid.
Take a closer look, though. There are plenty of United fans on the internet eulogizing Andy Najar, talking about how difficult it will be to fill his spot at right back—despite the fact that United has both a veteran in Robbie Russell and a perfectly capable replacement in Chris Korb. When those same people talk about his strengths at that position, they always seem to come back to his offensive abilities. They don’t often talk about how frequently he got burned while making those runs forward, though. Najar struggled to track back – the very same red card that Dan just mentioned was the result of a tantrum following a “professional foul” he was forced to commit after giving the ball up out of position. When people argue that a defenders strongest traits are on the other side of the ball, the player they’re talking about is more than likely far from an ideal fit in the backfield.
United also would have been crazy to turn down a reported $3 million for the kid – $3 million for a relatively unproven, sparingly capped 19 year old? Najar’s 2012 was largely disappointing—his stock likely would have plummeted further if his 2013 had followed suit. This is a good move by a club that doesn’t have much cash to spare, one that will give United the resources to plug other, far larger holes.
