 |
|||||
|
|||||
|
Taylor Twellman is focused on the Revs, although he's disappointed his transfer was blocked. (CHRIS ADUAMA/ aduama.com) |
“It’s a positive for any player to get interest, but I’m not gonna lie to you -- it’s a disappointment,” Twellman said of the rejected bid to Preston North End, a club in England’s second division. “But Saturday I’m playing for the Revs.”
Preston North’s bid for Twellman reached as high as $2.5 million with incentives that could have pushed the deal to $3 million before it was ultimately rejected by Major League Soccer. The club planned to pay the Revs’ all-time leading scorer an annual salary of $1 million. Twellman’s current deal with MLS pays him about $350,000 per season.
Although Twellman admitted he was disappointed, he reiterated that he still plays for the Revs and that’s all he’s focused on right now.
“As long as I’m playing in MLS, my heart and soul is with the Revolution,” he said.
Twellman, perhaps the face of the franchise and club’s all-time leading scorer with 91 goals and 26 assists in six seasons, attracted the interest of Preston North End just one year after drawing a $1 million transfer bid from Norway's Odd Grenland. That bid was also rejected and Twellman ended up inking his current pact, a 4-year, $1.4 million deal.
Twellman lost his long-time partner up front this offseason when the Revs allowed Pat Noonan to walk after offering the forward a deal far below his market value. Noonan ended up signing with Norwegian club Aalesund, leaving a scoring void he helped fill for four years with the club after being drafted in first round in 2003.
His departure also means that Twellman will have to find a comfort zone with a new running mate after he and Noonan had developed such a rapport the past few years.
“Obviously losing a guy like Pat, where he and I had a good understanding…” Twellman said, trailing off. “Whoever is playing up top, we’ve got to do our jobs. Our strength is there is a lot of competition. That’s a tribute to Stevie [Nicol] and the attitude he brings in.”
Noonan’s replacement will likely come from the combination of Kenny Mansally, the 20-year-old who led the Revs in preseason scoring with five goals, and Adam Cristman, the second-year player out of Virginia who netted four tallies in limited time last year.
“There’s going to be a period of adjustment,” said Revs’ keeper Matt Reis. “We’ve got some new players playing some significant minutes for us. We need guys to step up, but that’s the case every year.”
Blink
Del.icio.us
Digg
Furl
Google
Simpy
Spurl
Technorati
Y! MyWeb
|
|
[?] Subscribe To This Site
|
Return to top