Crew turns down English team’s offer for Steffen

Coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter said Thursday that offers for Crew SC players are fairly common during the summer — maybe two or three per transfer window.

The offer recently on his desk was a $3.9 million bid from English Championship club Bristol City for goalkeeper Zack Steffen, a 23-year-old in his second year as the Crew’s starter and on his way to becoming a mainstay with the U.S. national team.

That bid was turned down by the Crew, The Dispatch confirmed Thursday evening. ESPN first reported the Crew rejecting the offer. It is not immediately clear whether the Crew would consider moving Steffen at a higher price.

Berhalter said he believes that Steffen, a Pennsylvania native who signed with the Crew from German club SC Freiburg two summers ago, can play in any league in the world. But before The Crew rejected a $3.9 million bid for goalkeeper Zack Steffen, right, who would welcome a chance to play in Europe.

Steffen takes a step toward an international soccer career, he and the Crew will have a multi-pronged decision to make.

Steffen, who is under contract with the Crew through the 2021 season, said Thursday that he would be OK remaining with the team through this season. At the same

time, he is confident in his ability to succeed abroad.

“I definitely want to go over to Europe, and that timeline is all up to me and my family and that’s definitely in my head, but right now I’m focused on trying to get three points on Saturday and a shutout at home” against Orlando City, Steffen said.

Sources told The Dispatch earlier Thursday that Steffen would be in favor of a move if the Crew and Bristol City could agree on a final transfer fee, and he met with the coaching staff regarding the transfer Thursday morning.

For the Crew, there remain questions of timing and value.

Based on MLS transfer rules, the team would have kept just under $3 million on a transfer of $3.9 million. If the club waits until the winter to move Steffen, by which time he’ll have completed a second full MLS season and possibly highprofile national-team exhibition games this fall, his transfer value probably will have increased.

Berhalter said the Crew has a valuation in mind for Steffen.

“Those are all things to consider, but one thing I would say is, I won’t rule anything out. That doesn’t make sense,” he said. “If I told you right now we’re never gonna move Zack and (Manchester) United comes in tomorrow for a 20 million-pound offer, guess what? Zack’s moving, right?

“We work together with the players. It’s not always a perfect balance, but we like input from the players.”

The Crew, which is in playoff position and again has aspirations of advancing in the playoffs, also must weigh the timing of any potential move. The European summer window does not close until Aug. 31, but the MLS secondary window closes Aug. 8.

“For us, we’d have a problem that if we did (a transfer) after our (MLS) transfer window, it’d be difficult to bring someone in” to replace Steffen, Berhalter said. “So those are all things to consider.”