Trading Nemeth was good business by the Revolution

The New England Revolution continued their busy Summer Transfer Window on Monday when they sent Krisztian Nemeth to Sporting KC in exchange for $250,000 in Targeted Allocation Money, $100,000 in General Allocation Money, and KC’s 2020 natural first-round SuperDraft pick.

All and all, it was a good piece of business.

Nemeth joined the Revolution as the 2017 Summer Transfer Window came to a close. The move never made complete sense to me because the team had plenty of attacking weapons while their defenders couldn’t keep the ball out of the net (a problem they tried to address by adding Claude Dielna weeks earlier). From the start, it seemed that this deal was done because it could be done.

Almost a year later, Nemeth leaves without making much of a splash. He collected one goal and three assists in 643 minutes, hardly the output you want from a guy making almost a million dollars a year.

Looking back, I’ll most remember Nemeth getting a red card against SKC in his first Revs start, scoring a stunner while with Hungary, and constantly falling in the box during his appearances this season (though this was justified at times). Again, these aren’t the best memories from someone on the higher end of the payroll.

With this in mind, I fully commend the Revs for the deal they made. Nemeth needed to get off the books and they did this while getting a lot in return. The $350,000 in combined TAM and GAM is solid for a player that was clearly on the outside looking in (even if you consider the price the Revs paid to get him). This money can now be used to bring in some reinforcements. The draft pick, meanwhile, could result in a Brandon Bye-type player, which would be a nice tack-on.

Perhaps most importantly, the Revs opened up an international slot. With the Transfer Window closing on Aug. 8, the Revs now have the resources to make a move. Remember, Charlie Davies did hint that the club has talked about adding an “influential playmaker.” I don’t remember a club official saying that outright (though I did assume), so maybe the ambassador knows something we don’t.

Even if another signing doesn’t materialize (Friedel does like to talk about the complexity of deal-making), the Revs should be applauded for what they did with Nemeth. Sure, this deal is good for the player and his new club, but it’s most positive for the Revs. They swapped a player that didn’t fit their system for resources that could lead to an impact signing.

Not bad for a Monday night.