Charlotte FC president offers insight to the Riley McGree bidding war
While no deal is done, it’s likely Charlotte FC’s second signed player, Riley McGree, will remain in Europe rather than join the club for its inaugural MLS season.
McGree, an attacking midfielder from Australia, signed with Charlotte FC in October 2020 for an undisclosed fee. He spent last the 14 months on loan for English Championship club Birmingham City, where he became an impact player across his 30 appearances for the Blues. He scored three goals and added two assists.
Now, it appears multiple clubs in the United Kingdom are battling to sign the 23-year-old. The Athletic reported on Sunday that Charlotte was close to reaching a deal that would send McGree to Celtic in the Scottish Premiership for a transfer fee of more than $4 million, with the potential for that to increase by another $1.4-2.7 million based on performance.
More recent international reports indicate that one of Birmingham’s league rivals, Middlesbrough, is courting McGree for a higher up-front offer. Charlotte FC president Nick Kelly told The Observer on Wednesday that four European clubs have reached out expressing interest in signing McGree, with those negotiations heating up in recent weeks.
“For us, it’s very much a thing that’s not final yet,” Kelly said. “But there are a lot of teams currently in negotiations with (Charlotte FC sporting director) Zoran (Krneta) and team to see him stay in Europe.”
“Obviously the numbers are still being negotiated,” Kelly continued. “But our number one (priority) is to find the right solution for both parties. In this situation, we feel like we may be able to reach an agreement where it’s good for the player and it’s good for the club.”
With the addition of three players through Tuesday’s MLS SuperDraft, Charlotte FC’s roster totals 23 players, including McGree. The team has six other midfielders on its roster between Young Designated Player Jordy Alcívar, Ben Bender, Brandt Bronico, Alan Franco, Chris Hegardt and Sergio Ruiz.
Charlotte FC’s technical staff is said to be feeling comfortable with the team’s “spine” in the backfield, but the club is looking to add more forwards and wingers, and still has two unused Designated Player (DP) slots, which allows Charlotte to add players whose total compensation and acquisition costs exceed the league’s maximum salary budget charge ($612,500). Krneta, speaking on the MLS pre-draft show on Tuesday, said DP announcements could be expected in the coming weeks. Kelly highlighted that the front office isn’t rushing to add the three attacking players that appear to be missing from the lineup. He said that those spots might not be filled by the beginning of the season, but mentioned that the club is in constant conversation “with about a dozen DP targets.”
“I think that we’re looking for the right fit and the right timing for everybody,” Kelly said. “There are a lot of players who have interest in coming to MLS, specifically Charlotte Football Club, driven by the style of play they like with (head coach) Miguel (Ángel Ramírez).”
Charlotte FC has a plethora of international roster slots to facilitate an international DP signing, and a budget that could be bolstered by McGree’s move, although Kelly emphasized that the negotiations for McGree’s signature are still premature.
He said that the goal with those discussions is to have them be “as (little) of a distraction as possible to both sides.” Charlotte FC is preparing for its first leg of preseason training at Clemson on Monday.
But if McGree does sign a hefty contract elsewhere, Kelly said that the team would see a positive message in the move.
“We want to make sure that players feel comfortable, (and) if they perform in the future, that they feel there’s an opportunity to go somewhere that makes sense for their career and it makes sense for us,” Kelly said. “We’re not gonna be one of those clubs that holds (a player) hostage. If this ends up working out for all parties, we think that it sends the right message to future players and also to the market that we have the connections that we’ve promised for the last 18 months.”
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 8:46 PM.
