No matter how many other deals get done on this here transfer deadline day, this will be the one that leaves everyone scratching their heads, thinking, “Surely this can’t be right.”
UPDATE: It wasn’t (and it was). PSG and DC United were misled together in an odd tale that did not end well for Acosta. Read here.
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Alas, here we are, now with multiple reports from all around the world, backing up the Washington Post‘s initial report that Paris Saint-Germain will sign D.C. United midfielder Luciano Acosta before the transfer window closes on Thursday.
PSG is, of course, the mega-oil-rich club in the French capital; yes, it’s that D.C. United, the MLS home of Wayne Rooney; and Acosta is, for those unfamiliar with his work, a very good no. 10 — by MLS standards — who became unplayably exceptional the second Rooney arrived in the summer.
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The fee is expected to be in the neighborhood of $10 million. PSG’s bid came just hours after Saudi club Al-Hilal, the same one that announced their capture of Sebastian Giovinco from Toronto FC on Wednesday, had a bid of $7.5 million rejected. Acosta’s agent has certainly earned his commission on this one.
With Neymar currently set to miss the next 10 weeks with another broken metatarsal, some have opined that Acosta has been identified as a short-term solution for the lack of attacking creativity from which PSG is sure to suffer over the next two months. That almost makes sense on PSG’s part. As for Acosta, who’ll be paid so handsomely that his kids’ kids’ kids’ kids’ kids are already set for life, it’s a massive risk that could effectively ruin his still-blossoming career if he ends up going out on loan after loan in the coming years — but a risk he must take.
As stated above, Acosta is undoubtedly one of the best players in MLS, and we had probably only seen him scratch the surface of what he would do here in North America, but this is PSG we’re talking about here.
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He’s 24, so not exactly the rawest prospect to be further developed; he’s not an American, so the added bonus of entering that particular commercial market is virtually nonexistent, outside of 5% of hardcore MLS fans; it’s not as if he’s been on the radar of every European giant and PSG came out on top.
Only, according to the Post‘s report, Premier League giants Manchester City were in the mix and attempted to hijack the deal at the last second. We told you this was a weird one.
Make sure to tune-in for our special Transfer Deadline Day show on NBCSN today from 5 p.m. ET as we focus on all of the moves across the Premier League in the January window. You can stream the show live online right here.
