Whitecaps: The Richie Laryea experiment in Vancouver is over (original) (raw)

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Whitecaps: The Richie Laryea experiment in Vancouver is over

Canadian International Richie Laryea won't be back with the Whitecaps, but decisions still looming on Russell Teibert and Junior Hoilett.

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Published Jan 05, 2024 • 6 minute read

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Samuel Adekugbe and Richie Laryea at a Canadian men's national team training session in September 2022

Canadian internationals Sam Adekugbe, left, and Richie Laryea came to the Vancouver Whitecaps together, but Adekugbe will be the only one continuing into 2024 with the club. Photo by Canada Soccer by Beau Chevalier /jpg

So long, Richie. We hardly knew ya.

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Seriously, we hardly knew him.

Richie Laryea joined the Vancouver Whitecaps at the start of August, one of two much-ballyhooed moves made at the 11th hour of the transfer window. And now he’s almost certainly gone, just ahead of training camp.

The Canadian International came to Vancouver on loan from Premier League side Nottingham Forest, with the Caps picking up a pro-rated portion of his annual $1,436,338 salary.

Vancouver had tried to make the deal a permanent transfer, but final terms weren’t agreed to in the short time they had before the window closed, with all sides agreeing to reconvene in the MLS off-season to negotiate a permanent move.

But while the Caps will have players reporting to camp Saturday for medicals, Laryea won’t be one of them.

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Sources say they don’t foresee him returning to Vancouver this year, and he remains under contract with Forest until June 2025. Caps CEO Axel Schuster also confirmed the chances of Laryea returning were extremely small, as he said league rules around free agents don’t allow him to be a Designated Player — which is the kind of money his parent club is looking for.

“The maximum amount that Richie can cost us in our (salary) cap by league rules isn’t the problem for him, it’s more of a problem (with Nottingham) … He’s still under contract with a club that has bought him for some good dollars,” said Schuster. “And the club obviously is not — at this point at least, in all our conversations — open to let him go for a price that would make this deal possible. That’s where we’re at.

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“He’s a player of Nottingham, we have to respect that they have their expectations. I had a very open conversation with an agent that within the limits we have and the expectations Nottingham have, it will not be possible to make him an offer that is worthwhile for him to give up the contract he has there.”

Whether he stays in MLS or returns to Europe has yet to be determined, but the issues that have dogged his Premier League club haven’t gone away.

The Tricky Trees have been shedding players left and right, recently exceeding the FIFA limit on loaning out players — though they escaped punishment by quickly turning one deal into a transfer. And last year, around the same time Laryea made his way back to MLS, some players and agents threatened legal action over millions in unpaid fees, the latest in a long series of black eyes that the once-proud club has suffered.

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Forest is also on their eighth manager since 2019 with Steve Cooper recently being replaced by former Tottenham and Wolverhampton gaffer Nuno Espírito Santo, and are currently a scant five points above the relegation bar.

“I’m not overly optimistic that at the end Richie will come back, but I also don’t say it’s impossible,” said Schuster. “Because as time goes by, and the window closes at some point and Nottingham still has the player … but then they maybe are more (ready) to accept that they just get him off the payroll and don’t ask what they’re asking for right now.”

The Whitecaps have an open unrestricted DP spot, which they will likely use on an attacking player — forward is a position they’re direly thin at, as coach Vanni Sartini pointed out Tuesday — as well as depth on the flanks. With Laryea out of the picture, Sam Adekugbe, Luis Martins and Ryan Raposo are their dedicated wingbacks, though there are a few other players who have slotted in there.

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With a major emphasis on starting the season strong, and with a CONCACAF date with Mexican side Tigres just a month away, Schuster hopes to have both of those needs filled in the next 10 days.

The Caps leave for Marbella, Spain, on Jan. 9 to start training camp in earnest.

There are still two other notable players whose futures are uncertain.

Russell Teibert, the team’s longest-serving player and all-time appearances leader, hasn’t made a decision on what he’ll be doing this year. If the 31-year-old midfielder will be playing, though, it won’t be for the Whitecaps.

The offer from Vancouver’s side will be an undetermined non-playing role, said Schuster, though they’ve had continuing discussions about what role he could play.

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“We haven’t discussed any scenario with him playing at our club,” said Schuster. “The ball is in Rusty’s court. I had two conversations with him, Vanni had a conversation with him … and obviously it’s not an easy decision … He has to make a decision whether he wants to continue to play or not.”

Junior Hoilet, another Canadian international who was a late-season addition to the team, hasn’t decided on what he’ll be doing either.

The 33-year-old came in September just ahead of the MLS roster freeze on a deal through the end of the season, after having been out of contract since leaving English second division club Reading in July. While he is Canadian, most of his life has been spent in the U.K., with the bulk of his career with Blackburn and Cardiff.

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It would have to be a massive decision for his family, including his school-age children, to uproot from England and move to Vancouver for what would likely be a one-year deal.

“It’s for him, quite a big decision,” said Schuster. “He’s at the point of his career where you’re not getting any longer the biggest contract. So this combination makes it a little bit tricky because he’s going to Vancouver … it’s not cheap.

“It might be a package that doesn’t work at the end, for one year at the end of his career. That’s what makes it tricky to make a solution.”

White.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC forward Brian White celebrates his goal against Minnesota United FC at B.C. Place on May 6, 2023. Photo by Anne-Marie Sorvin /USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con

EXTRA TIME: Striker Brian White will also be absent this weekend, but with good reason — his first call-up to the U.S. men’s team. After a career season that saw him score 15 goals and five assists in league play, White was called into camp by Gregg Berhalter. While he will take part in camp from Jan. 6-16 in Orlando, Fla., a final match roster will then head to San Antonio, Tex., to play a friendly against Slovenia on Jan. 20 at Toyota Field. White will rejoin the Whitecaps in Spain when his time with the USMNT is done … Midfielder Pedro Vite will also answer his country’s call, heading to U-23 camp with Ecuadora before the 2024 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament in Venezuela. The competition decides the two South American representatives for the 2024 Olympics in France. He’ll return to his pro club after four games — Colombia (Jan. 20); Venezuela (Jan. 23); Bolivia (Jan. 26); and Brazil (Jan. 29).

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IMPORTANT DATES

Jan. 6: Players report to Vancouver.

Jan. 7-8: Medicals at team’s University of B.C. facility.

Jan. 9-10: Travel to Marbella, Spain.

Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Travel to Vancouver.

Feb. 6: Travel to Langford.

Feb. 7: CONCACAF Champions Cup Round 1 first leg versus Tigres UANL at Starlight Stadium.

Feb. 12: Travel to Monterrey, Mexico.

Feb. 14: CONCACAF Champions Cup Round 1 second leg at Tigres UANL at Estadio Universitario.

Feb. 14-15: Travel to California.

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