Will the Last DP to Leave MLS Please Turn Out the Lights?

By: Laurie | November 21st, 2008

Looks like we’ve got a veritable MLS Designated Player exodus on our hands this off-season.

All “loans,” of course.

First we learned that David Beckham was heading to Milan. “On loan.” To “maintain his fitness” in case Fabio Capello came calling.

MLS and Beckham were both saying that yes, of course, he loves MLS, he’s here for the full five years. At least until that post-2009 out clause of his contract was revealed. Then the little trip to Milan suddenly started feeling a little more like a speed-date with the eventual goal of a passionate long-term relationship.

But he will be back in 2009. I’m almost sure of it.

Next, Landon Donovan headed to Bayern Munich to work out with the team and hang out with his good buddy Jurgen Klinsmann. This tryout apparently went quite well, and yesterday they announced (unofficially) that Landon will be loaned to Munich as soon as the transfer window opens in January. The current plan is for him to stay there on loan for 2-3 months, until the MLS preseason starts to heat up.

Unless, of course, Bayern comes up with something more permanent and official, which is a definite possibility. But of course this is all rumor at this point, and for the moment most people are saying Landycakes will be back in LA next year. Maybe.

(Although I think Brooks and Carter over at the USA blog are taking bets on how long it will take Luca Toni to seduce Landon’s wife.)

Also yesterday, news came out of Chicago that DP Cuauhtemoc Blanco has headed to Santos Laguna in Mexico for six games. He’s being borrowed to help Santos Laguna in their playoff run.

Yes, you can apparently borrow players for the playoffs in Mexico. Who knew?

(Does anybody else think it would be a great idea for MLS to take advantage of all of their sister-team partnerships to do this? So the LA Galaxy could borrow sister team Chelsea’s Nicolas Anelka, just for the playoffs? And he could come over and do lots of sulking, and score lots of goals, and pretty much knock everybody flat. It would really make the playoffs interesting.)

(If, y’know, LA ever made the playoffs.)

The Blanco arrangement doesn’t appear to be anything other than a short-term loan at this point, although Blanco hasn’t ruled out a return to Mexico.

Sure, players come and players go, and there’s no such thing as permanence in the footy world. But it does kind of make you wonder about the future of the Great Designated Player Experiment when three of the four best-known DPs (the other being New York’s Juan Pablo Angel, no offense to Emilio, Gallardo and Lopez) are exploring other options.