With MLS's Summer of Signings to Continue, FanHouse Ranks the DPs

Major League Soccer has confirmed to FanHouse that multiple Designated Player signings will be announced over the next couple of weeks, meaning that by the time the transfer window closes in mid-August, this summer will constitute the most significant shopping spree in league history.

Already on board are Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls), Nery Castillo (Chicago Fire), Mista (Toronto FC), Branko Boskovic (D.C. United), Blaise Nkufo and Alvaro Fernández (Seattle Sounders).

The next arrival should be Mexican national team captain Rafael Márquez, whose signing by New York seems to be nearly a certainty. The issue has been that Márquez still has a couple of years remaining on his contract with Barcelona, and MLS has been uninterested in paying transfer fees.

There have been rumors that Barça and the Red Bulls had reached an agreement that would reduce or eliminate the fee, and on Friday, FCB sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta said Márquez's departure "just needed the final details tying up."

Márquez, 31, has been at Barcelona since 2003 and should enjoy plenty of attention here in the U.S. as both a hero to Mexican fans and a villain to Americans because of stunts like this. He also should help make the Red Bulls even more formidable, playing either in back or defensive midfield.

Henry looked great in his Red Bulls debut last week and is scheduled to start against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night in his first MLS match. Boskovic, the captain of the Montenegro national team, scored his first goal for struggling D.C. in last week's U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal win over the third-division Harrisburg City Islanders, while Mista and Nkufo already have made their MLS debuts.



Odds are that some of the new crop will fail to make much of an impact. Scouting foreign players is about as far from an exact science as you can get. But that risk, and a club's priorities when it makes the DP commitment (selling shirts vs. scoring goals) helps differentiate teams in a league that for too long tried to make all its franchises look the same. Now MLS clubs have identities. Some, like New York and L.A., will spend money on big names. Some will focus on Latin America, others on Europe. Others, like New England and Colorado, have no interest at all.

There have been successes and busts. Below is a list of the 13 Designated Players that were signed before this summer, ranked by their combined impact on and off the field. This is the group against which the new crop will be measured.

1. Landon Donovan, Los Angeles Galaxy (2005-current)

The original DP, Donovan was granted an increased salary by the MLS board of governors before the rule was implemented in 2007. He has been the best of both worlds -- immensely productive on the field and an enormous marketing asset off of it. Beckham and Blanco may be big, but no one connects with an American audience like America's best player. He's been at his best in the past couple of seasons, scoring 20 goals in 2008, winning the league MVP award in 2009 and boosting the profile of U.S. soccer with his outstanding performance in South Africa. The 28-year-old, scheduled to earn $2.1 million, will command a high transfer fee if he moves abroad.

2. Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Columbus Crew (2007-current)

Schelotto (right) has played at both DP and non-DP wages since he joined Columbus from Boca Juniors in 2007. If you didn't think his addition was a big deal back then, you don't follow soccer. Boca is just as big as Manchester United or Real Madrid, and Schelotto's trophy haul during his time at La Bombonera (including two world and four continental titles) is remarkable. Since coming to MLS, he's been both a star performer and an outstanding mentor on a club that's won an MLS Cup and two Supporters Shields. He was the league MVP in 2008. His play, professionalism and commitment to MLS (he's now playing at a reduced salary) give Schelotto, 37, the No. 2 spot on our list.

3. David Beckham, Los Angeles Galaxy (2007-current)

Okay, so he's spent most of his time injured or sitting in first class on British Airways. But the attention Beckham's signing brought to the league was priceless, and he showed last year what he can do when he's healthy and focused on playing good soccer. Beckham has missed all of the 2010 season with an Achilles injury, but the Galaxy are hoping to have him back by the playoffs. If nothing else, his signing likely made other big-name players, like Henry, more comfortable about coming to the U.S. That's an important legacy.

4. Juan Pablo Angel, New York Red Bulls (2007-current)

The classy Colombian striker has been an outstanding ambassador for the game and has stayed the course despite playing for a club that only recently has been able to get its act together. He probably should have been league MVP in '07, when he scored 19 goals, and he helped New York to its only MLS Cup Final the following season. He's reached double figures in each of his three full years in MLS and is one goal away from doing it again in 2010. Angel is scheduled to make $1.9 million this year.

5. Luciano Emilio, D.C. United (2007-2010)

The only other DP besides Schelotto to win an MVP award, Emilio earns the No. 5 spot despite missing as many chances as he made and failing to deliver for D.C. in the clutch. He scored 20 MLS goals in 2007 and earned the league's top honor, as well as DP status, but his production dropped to 11 in '08 and 10 last season, when he made $759,000. United won the Supporters Shield and Open Cup during Emilio's stay in the capital, but failed to win a playoff series and are about to miss the postseason for the third straight year. He signed a three-month contract with the club this spring that wasn't extended and has been hoping to catch on somewhere else in MLS.

6. Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Chicago Fire (2007-2009)

The addition of the most famous Mexican player in the past 20 years was a big coup for MLS, and while Blanco drew crowds and showed flashes of his surly brilliance, he failed to bring a trophy to the Fire and was the subject of distracting speculation regarding his interest in leaving MLS. He scored seven goals for the Fire in '08 and was named to the MLS Best XI, but Chicago was eliminated in the MLS Cup semifinals in each of Blanco's three seasons. It just never really came together. Blanco made $2.9 million last year. For that kind of money, you need to deliver some silverware. He's now playing for Irapuato in the Mexican second division.


Steep drop-off, then....


7. Claudio López, Kansas City Wizards (2008-2009)

Simply for his willingness to go to K.C., the Argentina heads up the also-rans. One of the fears surrounding the DP rule was that foreign players would be interested only in the league's big markets. López took a chance on the Wizards, and it worked out okay. He tallied seven goals and eight assists last year and six and seven in 2007. K.C. had only one MLS Cup quarterfinal elimination to show off after his two years, however, and López left for Colorado after failing to agree on a new deal. The two-time World Cup veteran is making $120,000 this year, well below DP money.

8. Freddie Ljungberg, Seattle Sounders (2009-2010)

The former Sweden and Arsenal star helped generate a bit of buzz during the Sounders' inaugural season in MLS, and his midfield play helped carry the club to a postseason berth and the U.S. Open Cup championship. His 2010 season has been a bust, however, and he wore out his welcome before being traded to the Chicago Fire on Friday. Ljungberg is making $1.3 million this year.

9. Julian de Guzman, Toronto FC (2009-current)

The jury's still very much out on the Canadian international, so we'll put him below the players who accomplished something and above the ones who didn't. De Guzman signed with Toronto last September after leaving Spain's Deportivo La Coruña and has settled in somewhat this season, tallying two assists and helping TFC win the Canadian Championship. He has a ways to go however if he's going to justify his $1.7 million salary.

10. Claudio Reyna, New York Red Bulls (2007-2008)

Captain America's return to his hometown after a distinguished career in England, Scotland and Germany was a heartwarming story. Of course it didn't work out -- this was the Red Bulls -- but it was the right move and perhaps it paved the way for more American players to finish their career at home (like Kasey Keller). Reyna played fewer than 30 games for New York and retired in the middle of the '08 season with back trouble. He's now working for U.S. Soccer as the country's youth technical director.

11. Luis Ángel Landín, Houston Dynamo (2009-2010)

The Mexican arrived in Houston to considerable fanfare, but turned out to be worthwhile only as the target of some good fat jokes. Landín (below -- check out the gut) managed to score just twice for the Dynamo and was given his outright release two weeks ago. He signed with Cancun's Atlante a few days later.


12. Marcelo Gallardo, D.C. United (2008)

He's an icon at River Plate but in the U.S. he's considered the man who helped bring down Major League Soccer's most storied franchise. United threw $1.9 million at the Argentine, who spent the 2008 season playing as if he'd rather be anywhere else. He grudgingly managed four goals and three assists, had hernia surgery and was sent back to Buenos Aires after D.C. missed the playoffs. He did play 10 minutes in the U.S. Open Cup final, which United won. Never has a player deserved a medal less.

13. Denílson, FC Dallas (2007)

Poor FC Dallas -- they continue to struggle to be relevant in their far-flung suburban stadium, they're the only MLS original who's yet to contest the MLS Cup Final and they made, by far, the worst DP signing in league history. The Brazilian, famous largely because of that Nike airport commercial and for the ridiculous £21.5 million transfer fee paid by Real Betis for his services in 1998, managed one goal (a penalty kick) in his eight-game MLS career. Dallas left him on the bench in the U.S. Open Cup final against New England. The club offered to keep him at a lower salary in '08 (he made $870,000 in '07), but he left for Palmeiras. He's now at Greece's Kavala.