Are England's strict work permit laws preventing goalkeeper Andre Blake from being sold to an English club? Not necessarily, say the Philadelphia Union.
Following a recent report on Goal.com by Ives Galarcep that Jamaica's current FIFA ranking, outside of the Top 50, meant that Jamaican players without English or European Union citizenship, like Blake, would not be approved for work permits, a strange situation given Jamaica's longstanding connection to English soccer, the Union clarified the situation surrounding Blake.
“It’s kind of a non-story because there haven't been any formal offers made to us,” Union head coach Jim Curtin said during his weekly press conference on Wednesday. “Different things come up, agents come up with different ideas to benefit their players. Nothing concrete came from the clubs that were listed. Nothing to them. It’s talk.”
While Blake, the defending MLS Goalkeeper of the Year coming off a Golden Glove-winning performance at this year's CONCACAF Gold Cup, has been linked in the press to a move abroad, Philadelphia sporting director Earnie Stewart claimed there is no incentive to keeping his team's potential interest in selling a player secret and echoed Curtin's comments on there being no offers.
“What does it help us as a club, if there was an offer, to say absolutely nothing?” Stewart said. “If you want to sell a player, you throw it out there and get as much interest as you can. I can only look in my email box, my telephone and that hasn’t happened.”
Blake and the Union are back in action on Saturday, hosting Chicago at Talen Energy Stadium (7 pm ET | MLS LIVE).
