Report: Revolution Reaffirm They’re Not Listening To Offers for Lee Nguyen

It appears the latest part in the Lee Nguyen offseason saga is here, with veteran reporter Paul Tenorio offering this tidbit earlier today.

This reinforces the message Brad Friedel and the New England Revolution had earlier in the week when they stated they would not trade Nguyen. The Revs midfielder did not report for the start of training camp yesterday. Nguyen signed a new contract back in 2016 and the team used TAM in the process to pay Lee $500,000 according to last years MLS Player’s Union figures.

This puts the Revs between a rock and a hard place. They have a midfielder who isn’t with the team, seemingly wants a trade, but the club isn’t listening to offers. The longer this situation drags on, the harder it might be to get solid value for Nguyen in the trade or transfer market.

Two MLS trades to look at for comparison purposes are the recent deals that sent Sacha Kljestan and $150,000 TAM to Orlando City for two players and LAFC’s acquisition of Benny Feilhaber for $400,000 in various allocation monies. Teams are certainly inquiring at this time, but the Revs aren’t listening to any offers.

As far as potentially replacing Lee Nguyen in the starting lineup, odds are that Kelyn Rowe would take over in the middle of the field. Rowe is no stranger to the middle of the field and consistently chips in about 5 goals and 5 assists a season from a wide midfield/winger role. Rowe versatility has always been a strength and while he has the skill set to replace Nguyen, Lee’s production of the last few years has been near the top of the league.

We’ll have more updates and news as this situation continues to unfold. The Revs start their first major trip of preseason to Florida on Friday.