Kamara Looking? Schoenfeld in Israel

Transfer windows are opening up all over the world this week and it appears that two Crew players are already involved in the dealings.

First up is an ESPN report that Columbus Crew SC are feeling out Radamel Falcao. A link to an outrageous high-profile player an annual event for Columbus offseason whose lifecycle usually has the following pattern...

1. Joke on Twitter
2. Picked up by unaware small foreign site using Google Translate
3. Big US media outlet cites small site, runs with story

Don't laugh at number two there. That is a two-way street. It happens with MLS media people all the time. Google is a great tool to translate words but it doesn't give you nuance or tone in language or help you understand a culture better. Simple example - "Kamara killed it today! He completely bossed the backline." A non-English speaking person might be wondering why team manager Kei Kamara murdered something.

This particular rumor about Falcao appears to not come from that running winter joke among fans. The report claims that he is talking with both Deigo Valeri and Federico Higuain about MLS. Entirely plausible considering the relationships between players. From there (if we are to continue walking down this street) it's easy to say the Crew front office has likely talked to one of Falcao's people out of simple due diligence. After his knee injury and crossing the 30 mark, he is ripe for a league like MLS. Particularly if he wants a quick shot in the arm to land another big deal before he's done (modern role of MLS, isn't it?).

Where there's smoke... there's a text that some front office person would like back. However, if operator / investor Anthony Precourt and company are looking around for a player of Falcao's stature then it means that they aren't comfortable with Kei Kamara returning. No way the team would keep both players on the roster considering the style Berhalter plays.

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AARON SCHOENFELD

Different story for Schoenfeld. A report out of Israel has him working out with Maccabi Netanya, who are currently last on the Ligat ha'Al table. With 8 goals in 16 matches they appear to be looking for a scorer.

Schoenfeld can be proud of his time here in Columbus. He was selected to be on the senior roster by both Robert Warzycha and Gregg Berhalter. Part of that may be that he's an inexpensive, tall, athletic, hardworking and English-speaking player, but another part of it is that he comes off as a genuinely good person.

He's also one of the quickest and hardest strikers of the ball in recent Crew memory. Give him a half yard of space and he'll rip off a screamer in milliseconds.

Maccabi Netanya is currently ranked 1,171 in the world, accourding to Football Database. MLS teams fall in the 800-900 range, so that seems about right for Aaron Schoenfeld.

All the best to him if he makes it, what a great experience it could be.

Transfer window in Israel opens up January 6th.