Jesus Medina signs as young DP

[JayH]

I’m excited.

Let’s leave those type of celebrations for Orlando fans.

 

[Gotham Gator]

I personally think this one should be the theme for our season opening Tifo.

 

[Kjbert]

One of these days, well get a target guy to play the ball
Into

 

[adam]

One of these days, well get a target guy to play the ball
Into

 

[sbrylski]

His goal record according to wikipedia is 17 in 74 apps which seems ok for a young player, I expect quite a few of those appearances were as a sub and he would have been playing when he was 16/17/18 so he has probably improved significantly since then.

Can't seem to find stats anywhere for his goals/assists last season in the Paraguayan league, there are stats for the Copa Sudamerica and Libertadores. He got 2 goals and 2 assists in 14 apps.

According to Transfermarkt he played left wing/left mid every match apart from 1 where he played defensive midfield.

Playing at a similar level(Argentinian league is one of the best in South America so probably similar to playing in the continental competitions) Almiron had 4 goals and 4 assists in 40 apps.

Apparently Copenhagen, Napoli and Udinese were all interested in him but until he plays who knows how good he is. Thats the risk you take getting a young South American DP, there were not any obvious options in Europe we could get who would actually be worthwhile anyway.

His domestic league stats are available here: https://int.soccerway.com/players/jesus-medina/250369/

8 goals in 35 games in 2017
9 goals in 38 games in 2016

Best comp I can come up with is Cristian Colman for Dallas, who had 7 goals and 11 goals in the two season in Paraguay prior to joining MLS, then flopped with just 2 goals in 26 games last year. Completely different players though, so we'll see.

 

[LionNYC]

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Honestly, I wouldn’t mind signing him again. I think Kreis just fucked up everyone on the team outside Villa. When we cut him he scored a lot in international games. He likely wouldn’t want to be a bench player, but he’d likely do better under Vieira.

 

[Ulrich]

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Except that Kreis never let him be the target - he was expected to hold up the ball and pass to Villa.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

His domestic league stats are available here: https://int.soccerway.com/players/jesus-medina/250369/

8 goals in 35 games in 2017
9 goals in 38 games in 2016

Best comp I can come up with is Cristian Colman for Dallas, who had 7 goals and 11 goals in the two season in Paraguay prior to joining MLS, then flopped with just 2 goals in 26 games last year. Completely different players though, so we'll see.

That Colman guy must be the most frustrating player for FCD fans. He always seemed to be playing champagne football all the way up until he turned into flat draft beer in front of goal.

 

[Seven]

Except that Kreis never let him be the target - he was expected to hold up the ball and pass to Villa.

And occasionally tackle Villa off the ball

 

[Pirlo Poku]

Could have seen a guy like Gareth Bale succeeding for us on the wing but I'll give Medina a chance.

The City scouting seems to have done well with Yangel Herrera, expect he'll be a star. Also CFG did well with their prior Jesus signing, Man City is undefeated in EPL in Gabriel Jesus's tenure.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

Could have seen a guy like Gareth Bale succeeding for us on the wing but I'll give Medina a chance.

The City scouting seems to have done well with Yangel Herrera, expect he'll be a star. Also CFG did well with their prior Jesus signing, Man City is undefeated in EPL in Gabriel Jesus's tenure.

one relevant thought there, anyway.

 

[Falastur]

Could have seen a guy like Gareth Bale succeeding for us on the wing but I'll give Medina a chance.

The City scouting seems to have done well with Yangel Herrera, expect he'll be a star. Also CFG did well with their prior Jesus signing, Man City is undefeated in EPL in Gabriel Jesus's tenure.

Not quite so successful with the Jesus before last though...

 

[FredMertz]

I think the league should move to 4 DPs work the fourth needing to be a young DP. Will make it easier to take chances like Medina.

 

[Kjbert]

I think the league should move to 4 DPs work the fourth needing to be a young DP. Will make it easier to take chances like Medina.

Fantastic idea

 

[Gotham Gator]

https://twitter.com/x/status/948196661909696519

True story. If your Young DP has braces, that's an extra $50,000 off his cap hit.

 

[SoupInNYC]

I've been a bit busy over the last week or so so haven't been able to get on here much. I knew after Medina was announced as a DP that there would be a decent amount of bitching on here about it (but lets be honest, there would have been some level of bitching on here no matter who the DP was).

I like this signing quite a bit for now, but still find myself in a "wait-and-see" mode until I see him get some actual minutes with us. But two things to consider about this:

1. I've seen many comparisons to Almiron on here (moreso attempts at comparison if anything) and noting the difference in the transfer fee paid. That's fine, and I get why as they are both young Paraguayans, but do we need to compare him to Almiron? What about someone like Villalba who Atlanta paid 2.25m transfer fee for? I know we all want a guy like Almiron and we should aspire to sign guys like that, but getting a Villalba-type guy is pretty great as well.
2. I'm leaning more towards trusting our scouting department on this signing, mostly in comparing to our signing of Maxi as a DP last year. Last year we had trouble bringing in the 3rd DP and signing Maxi appeared to be more of a desperation move. We NEEDED a 3rd DP (both for roster quality and for appearance purposes (this board would have melted down if we didn't grab a 3rd after the Lamps fiasco and especially considering the Pirlo flame-out)) and the club at the last minute signed Maxi. This signing is happening 3 weeks before our preseason camp starts. There would still be enough time to grab someone else if we wanted to, especially after another year of this league growing in terms of quality and attractiveness to other young players.

With the above noted, I'm excited to see what he can bring and what else we can put on the roster. I'm more-so interested to see what his actual salary ends up being, to see if that transfer fee hits the cap this year, and he is not a DP for us after this season.

 

[Gotham Gator]

Worth noting the salaries of the 3 Atlanta DPs.

Almiron $2.3 million
Martinez $1.04 million
Villalba $771 thousand

So, it could be possible for them to convert Martinez and Villalba to TAM and go out and get 2 more DPs, just as we hope to do with Jesus.