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VANCOUVER, B.C. - The MLS secondary transfer window opened on Tuesday, signalling what could potentially be the start of the silly season for MLS clubs. Every team wants to improve, and stock pile assets for the dog days of summer, and a MLS cup playoff run.
How active will Vancouver Whitecaps FC Manager Carl Robinson be?
"We're always looking to strengthen, you know that. It's the party line as we say. Is there anything imminent? No. Am I happy with the group of players that I've got? Yes."
There ain't no party like a transfer watch party, and the only transfers Whitecaps FC supporters should be keeping an eye on, is that of Alphonso Davies and Kendall Waston.
Whitecaps FC currently have the top 17 year-old footballer in the world. Alphonso Davies has come on and really made a name for himself in his third season with Vancouver.
He's in peak form, and he's the straw that stirs the Vancouver offence. He's got speed burners, creativity, smarts, drive, and determination to be an elite footballer.
That brings us to his future in Vancouver. Davies will be out of contract at the end of this current MLS season. He will turn 18 years-old on November, 2. Will he have played his last match in MLS, and with Whitecaps FC by that time? That's certainly a possibility.
Football scouts have been circling, West Ham, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid to name a few, have been at recent Vancouver home matches, scouting Davies. The only way up for Canada Soccer's top prospect, is in Europe, but when will he make that big jump?
"There's interest in him because he's playing really well," Coach Carl Robinson told reporters on Tuesday. "He's playing at a really high level. I could say there's no interest in him, but I'd be lying, and I don't lie, as you know. There's lots of interest in him, what I can't tell you is what's going to happen. I don't know what is around the corner, he's with us at the moment, and playing phenomenally well. He's got a contract with us at the moment, he loves being here. We love having him here, and I think the supporters love watching him play."
Just over half way into the 2018 campaign, and Davies has already set career highs in games started (16), goals scored (2), assists (8), minutes played (1419), shots (17), shots on target (7). He's the teenage phenom Whitecaps FC fans have waited to see blossom.
Davies was named by MLS Commissioner Don Garber to the 2018 MLS All-Star game in Atlanta, Georgia on August 1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium vs Serie A champion, Juventus.
Getting Davies prepared for that next level of football won't come easy. Davies is still a teenager. He wants to eat ice cream, go to 'Kits Beach', play Playstation, and use the latest Instagram filter. He might be ready physically, but getting mentally prepared to play at a higher level, with more pressure, and much more at stake, that won't come as easy.
"Fonzie is a top young player," Robinson said. "He's got great talent, and he's got great potential, but there's a long way to go. The reason I protect him from you guys, and ladies sometimes, is because I need to teach him. If you throw him to the wolves, unfortunately he'll get swallowed up, and I don't want to do that at the moment. There's still teaching points and building blocks that I need to put in his makeup for when he does go to that next level."
There is always going to be a rush to put, pen to paper. Red Nation Online posed this question to Robinson. Would it be easier for Davies and the Whitecaps organization to sign a pre-contract with a top club, thus moving attention away from scouts and putting it back on Davies, allowing him to strictly play football?
"No, I don't want the scouts to go away." Robinson quickly answered. "I could give you a list of all the teams that have been, if you've got four pages of A4 paper, then we'll be okay. I don't want them to go away. I want them to come and watch my team play, watch our young players play."
If the Ghanaian born, and Edmonton, Alberta, raised Davies is going to continue to take his football career to the next level. He's going to have to put the ball in the old onion bag. Sometimes you have to be selfish. It worked for Kobe Bryant, and many other superstars.
Whitecaps FC leading goal-scorer, Kei Kamara, wants to see more finish from Davies.
"Mature in the final end of the game." Kamara said, when asked where Davies needs to improve. "Nobody else can touch him anywhere else on the field. When it comes to the final end, where he's making plays, assists, or scoring goals, staying composed. That's really what we're working on. All of us, I'm thirty-three, and I'm still working on it."
If Davies isn't about to move to the lush avenues of Europe, who else could be on the move?
Kendall Waston of course.
The 'Towering Tico' smashed home a header in his only World Cup appearance for Costa Rica. The image of him bursting through a Swiss cheese defence, and then appearing to rip his shirt to shreds after scoring, that will live long in the minds of World Cup fans.
The value for the 30 year-old centre-back has never been as high as it is now. Unfortunately for prospective suitors, Waston remains sidelined with a left groin strain. He has not trained this week with Vancouver, and is not currently with the team.
"He's got an outside chance for the weekend." said, Robinson updating the health of his skipper. "He's not here at the moment. He's dealing with some paper work in Costa Rica, so it's nothing major. I've given him a few days off. If he's not quite ready for the weekend, he'll probably be in the Amway Canadian Championship against our good friends, Montreal. We won't rush him, but it's important that we get him back."
The 7-7-5 Whitecaps FC will leave on Thursday for a three match road trip. They will help D.C. United open Audi Field on Saturday, July 14. Vancouver will play Montreal on Wednesday, July 18. The Caps will visit Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday, July 21 at CenturyLink Field. This will be the first meeting between the two Cascadian rivals since Seattle eliminated Whitecaps FC in the quarterfinal round of the 2018 MLS playoffs.
Kendall Waston should be back by the later match, but nothing is set in stone. The same goes for his future with the club. Whether he is sold, or remains the anchor of the Vancouver back-line depends on what kind, if any offers Whitecaps FC receive.
"There's been one of two that have asked about him, and have inquired." Robinson admitted. "They see him scoring a goal at a major tournament, and taking his shirt off. Again, Kendall's not fit at the moment. The more scouts that are in our building, the better, because we want people in our building. It will all be dictated by how well they play on the field."
Davies and Waston represent hope and vision of what the future could hold for Whitecaps FC if the club wants to make a successful transfer. It's not enough to just grow, and develop your players. When it's time to sell on, you have to strike while the transfer iron is hot. That could be now, or at the end of the 2018 season.
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