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Nick De Santis confirmed to Frederic Lord of TVA Sports that an offer was sent to Clarence Seedorf to join the MLS and the Montreal Impact. The first confirmation came from Goal.com and Frederic Lord's latest tweets relates Nick De Santis confirmation
Frederic Lord conveying Nick De Santis`answer if an offer was made to Clarence Seedorf. The question during the media scrum was asked by Pablo A. Ortiz of Noticias Montreal. You can follow him at @PabloJinko
Avez-vous fait une offre à Seeforf? NdS: "oui" #IMFC
— Frederic Lord (@FLordsoccer) June 5, 2012
Later in the day, the official Montreal Impact twitter account sends out a clarification on the contract offer to Clarence Seedorf
Sporting Director Nick De Santis clarifies that an amount of money was discussed with the agent of Seedorf but no official offer was made.
— Impact de Montréal (@impactmontreal) June 5, 2012
As much as there isn`t much to talk about as per details of amount offered, interest of Seedorf towards MLS, this is a very interesting view on the Montreal Impact`s aggressive (in a positive way) attitude towards going after star players to join their ranks. At 36, Clarence Seedorf is still in great shape if you look at this age and the number of games played in Eredivisie, La Liga , Serie A and the Oranje.
Marketing wise, going after notable Serie A stars (in the decline but still stars) is an obvious tactic for the Italian-influenced Montreal Impact, the organisation but the soccer makes sense for the Montreal Impact, the soccer club. There will be criticism from observers (media, fans alike) that the Montreal Impact are heavily focusing in Serie A and that other leagues exists. But at the end, it is who you know,, how confortable you are with your contacts and always staying in your zone of comfort and expertise as a club.
It is known that Seedorf has an affinity to play in Brazil knowing that his wife is Brazilian. He has been linked with the club Botafogo and talks have been going on between both parties. A deal might be struck later this week and we might see Seedorf play in the beachfront neighborhood of Rio De Janeiro. The Dutch midfielder might even hold out signing anywhere outside Italy if serious Serie A contacts are made during the summer but at the end, it's all a question of timing.
The Clarence Seedorf watch has started.