The imminent signing of 18-year-old centre back Goncalo Cardoso for £2.8m from Boa Vista means an end for the pursuit of MLS centre back Aaron Long.Sky Sports had been running with the story for some time on his inability to get a work permit but the Red Bulls valuation was the main stumbling block.
The player’s agent Shaun Higgins claimed his 27-year-old client was being valued at £12.4m. Higgins, who heads an agency called PRO Football Consultants and represents Long. Higgins claimed in the Tweet that the Red Bulls put a $15 million value on Long who won MLS Defender of the Year in 2018.
According to ESPN, the latest offer for Long was £3.3m and came from France with the other offer from England was £2.5m. “They told Aaron yesterday that he was worth $15 million, which is ridiculous,” Higgins told ESPN. “[The Red Bulls] say they’re not going to sell Aaron unless they get $15 million. They don’t think Aaron is good enough for RB Leipzig or Red Bull Salzburg. But the Red Bulls are saying even though he’ll be 27 years old [in October], if a team really wants Aaron, they’ll come in for him and that his value is similar to defenders in the Premier League.”
Long himself later added: “I saw the Tweet. It’s one of those things that, like I said, I’m not involved in and I’ve removed myself from that to just focus on the game, tonight and football in general,” Long told Pro Soccer USA after the match. “I don’t think it involves me as a player. So it’s between those parties: between Red Bulls, whatever other team and my agent. So you know, those guys have all the say and I can’t really comment on it because I don’t really know what’s going on.”