Opinion: Gutman, Etienne Jr. acquisitions show FC Cincy’s focus wisely on future
FC Cincinnati‘s inaugural season in MLS has all but hit the skids. Sitting on a measly 17 points through 24 matches, good for dead last in the Supporters’ Shield standings, it’s time for the club to turn its focus toward the future.
That’s precisely what the club has done after announcing multiple significant moves recently to acquire left back Andrew Gutman, one of the best young fullback prospects in the American player pool, and 22-year-old midfielder Derrick Etienne Jr.
First, FC Cincy obtained the MLS rights to Gutman from the Chicago Fire via trade. The winner of the 2018 MAC Hermann Trophy was acquired along with a 2020 SuperDraft third-round pick. In exchange, the Fire received $50,000 in GAM this year, with the potential to get up to $150,000 more in GAM from FC Cincy in the future if Gutman ends up on the roster and reaches certain performance-based metrics. Chicago will also get a cut of any future loan or transfer fee if Cincinnati ships Gutman outside of MLS.
Of course, actual rights trump theoretical rights, the former of which were still held by Celtic at the time. Gutman trialed with Rangers FC after graduating from Indiana University, but ultimately got offered a contract from its biggest rival instead and decided to sign with the Scottish club.
Due to work visa roadblocks, Celtic’s plan from the jump was to loan Gutman to the Charlotte Independence to play in the USL Championship. Well, actually the original plan was to loan him to Nashville SC, but the watchful eye of MLS nixed that idea due to Nashville’s imminent move to MLS in 2020, which would’ve presented a conflict of interest with the Fire holding his Homegrown Player rights.
Alas, Gutman headed to Charlotte and ended up starting 14 games, delivering three goals and an assist before briefly returning to Celtic. Shortly after acquiring his rights, FC Cincy worked out a loan deal with Celtic to bring Gutman to the Queen City.
The move signals a commitment by FC Cincinnati to turn its eyes toward 2020 and beyond. It also provides insurance at left back for veteran Greg Garza, who’s been hurt most of the year and certainly isn’t getting any younger.
Moreover, the addition of Etienne Jr. on loan from the New York Red Bulls further cements the club’s future-focused approach and bolsters a very weak FC Cincy attack. Etienne Jr., who’s the same age as Gutman but already has significantly more professional experience, joins after contributing one goal and one assist in 11 appearances this season for RBNY. Only five of those cameos, however, were starts. He tallied five times in 2018 despite playing less than 1,000 regular-season minutes.
Gutman’s loan runs through the end of the 2020 season, while Etienne Jr.’s contains an option to buy at the end of 2019.
FC Cincinnati also recently brought in attacker Joe Gyau, who has U.S. men’s national team experience and has spent the last several years at various levels of the German pyramid. At 26, he doesn’t have the prospect label that Gutman and Etienne Jr. do, but still has plenty of good football ahead of him and possibly hasn’t even settled into his prime yet.
If the past couple weeks are any indication, look for new head coach Ron Jans and FC Cincy’s front office to continue making decisions for the rest of 2019 with the clear-cut goal of developing a roster that’s much more competitive in the coming years. It’s unequivocally the correct approach after a more-than-forgettable inaugural MLS campaign.
Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KJboxing.
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