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Jermaine Jones tweets ‘FREE AGENT BABY’ immediately after Colorado Rapids loss
The now likely former Rapids midfielder Jermaine Jones wants to get paid.
Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Jermaine Jones is one of the best players in MLS, but between his injury troubles and the six-game suspension he had to serve for making contact with an official, he wasn’t a hot commodity in the offseason. That’s why he landed with the Colorado Rapids — preseason favorites to finish bottom of the Western Conference — for about one-sixth what he made during his previous contract.
The Rapids put together a surprisingly great season before bowing out of the MLS Cup playoffs on Sunday. Shortly following his team’s loss, Jones sent out a tweet celebrating that he was a “FREE AGENT BABY” before later deleting it. Jones is free to sign for any club outside of MLS, but within MLS, he is not a free agent. If he wanted to sign for another team, that team would have to trade with the Colorado Rapids for his rights.
“People know that I came to this league as a [designated player] and this is where I want to go back to,” Jones said, according to the Denver Post. “I’m a free agent now. I will sit back and see what comes. I’m not scared to go back to Europe or scared to go to Mexico or somewhere.”
Notably, Jones played in nine of 34 regular season games in 2016.
Goal of the day
This free kick by Ismail Koybasi, which we swear does not take a deflection. (r/soccer)
In the news
Dani Alves has a broken leg and could miss four months. (Football Italia)
Juventus currently has an injury crisis in their defense and can’t afford to have another player go down. (Gazzetta)
Jose Mourinho could face a suspension after his second sending off of the season. (Mirror)
Wilfried Zaha is making a switch to play for Ivory Coast. (BBC)
Mauricio Pochettino says record Tottenham signing Moussa Sissoko is getting left out of the 18-man squad because he isn’t good enough. (Guardian)
Neymar got into an accident with his Ferrari over the weekend. (Fox Soccer)
You should be reading
Trevor Murray on a Sunderland coach working in Tanzania. (These Football Times)
Paolo Bandini on Gio Simeone’s performance against Juventus. (Guardian)
Kieron O’Connor on who’s benefiting from European TV money. (Swiss Ramble)
What happened this weekend
Bayern Munich won to keep pace with RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga. (Bavarian Football Works)
Juventus got run over by Genoa. (Black and White and Read All Over)
Barcelona dropped points and heads into El Clasico in a hole. (Barca Blaugranes)
What to watch on Monday (Click for listings, all times ET)
Serie A: Two games (from 1 p.m.) -- Napoli-Sassuolo early, Inter-Fiorentina late. Both should be fun.
La Liga: Las Palmas vs. Athletic Bilbao (2:45 p.m.) -- Neither team is great, but both are entertaining.
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