Geoff Cameron to Stoke City Deal in the Hands of MLS HQ

Geoff Cameron is ever so close to joining Stoke City of the English Premier League. The Dynamo support the move, Cameron wants the move, and Stoke City are willing to pay $2.7 million for him (according to a report in the Chronicle). All that remains is for Don Garber and MLS HQ to sign off on the deal, something that is never certain and has been problematic in the past.

MLS has a rich history of destroying European opportunities for players (Taylor Twellman immediately comes to mind) due to over-valuation, but here's hoping that they make the reasonable and correct decision in this case. According to Jesus Ortiz a decision could come by Thursday.

So we wait.

In the meantime, here's how the Dynamo would be affected by the deal. If MLS accepts the reported $2.7 million, the team would receive $1.8 million*, while the league would pocket the rest. In taking a transfer fee, something they did not get when Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark left on free transfers, the Dynamo would release all right to Cameron should be make a future return to MLS. He'd have to go through the allocation process.

That's basically it. The deal is in place, everyone is on board except MLS. We'll have to wait and see what their decision is. I'd be shocked if they didn't accept the deal that clearly benefits Cameron's ambitions and would be a nice financial windfall for the club. Should the deal fall through, Cameron would likely finish his contract and leave anyway next year on a free transfer. Hopefully MLS doesn't screw the Dynamo over here.

With the excellent play from Jermaine Taylor and Bobby Boswell of late, along with the depth provided by Andre Hainault, are you ready for this transfer to happen so everyone can finally move on?

*Dynamo could only use $667,000 of the total transfer fee on allocation money. The rest of the money can be used for "soccer-related" expenses. That essentially means money that can be re-invested in to the team.