Sebastien Le Toux Officially Traded To Vancouver Whitecaps For Allocation Money

Sebastien Le Toux did not ride quietly into the night, even if he may have tried to. As Le Toux was saying his goodbyes at a local haunt, a reporter caught up with the former Philadelphia Union forward. Le Toux didn't hold much back.

By Le Toux's telling, it would appear that his relationship with the Union started to deteriorate after he tried to initiate talks about a contract extension. He was heading into the final year of his contract and was apparently looking for about $400,000. The Union, apparently, weren't interested.

"It had gotten to the point where I said to them, to Nick, to Peter, to everyone, ‘Just give me a contract and I will sign it,’" said Le Toux, who spoke exclusively with the Daily Times. "I wanted to stay in Philly. I didn’t care about the money."

Le Toux went on to all but accuse the Union of being cheap, and said the team was none too pleased with him after he left the trial they had arranged with Bolton about three weeks earlier than expected. Upon returning to the Union, Le Toux said Nowak made his displeasure clear.

"I couldn’t even memorize everything he said because I was so surprised to hear it."

These quotes essentially confirm the rumors that had been circulating once news of Le Toux's trade started leaking out. As well as Le Toux's numbers were in Philadelphia, his relationship with Nowak was just as bad.

"I would be happy to just retire than play for Peter again," Le Toux said.

Read the entire story at DelcoTimes.com.

Just in case there was any doubt that Sebastien Le Toux was being traded to the Vancouver Whitecaps, the player himself announced the traded on Twitter Tuesday morning. The Philadelphia Union and Whitecaps confirmed the trade a short while later and noted that the Union received allocation money in the transaction.

Just got traded to Vancouver !Saddest day for me in my Philadelphia Union story.... Still can't believe it

— Sebastien Le Toux (@SebastienLeToux) January 31, 2012

The move ends what can be safely classified as a two-year storybook run for Le Toux and the Union. As recently as 2008, Le Toux was a relatively unknown player in the USL. After a somewhat disappointing first year in MLS with the Seattle Sounders, he was left exposed in the 2010 expansion draft and taken by the Union.

In Philadelphia, Le Toux established himself as one of the league's best scorers and a MVP candidate. In two seasons, he accounted for 45 goals (25 goals, 20 assists) and contributed to 57 percent of the Union's scores. That was good enough to earn him a Premier League trial with Bolton. But various reports have suggested he cut the trial short himself in order to return to MLS. The Union, apparently, had other plans and opted to trade Le Toux's rights instead.

That he's in Vancouver is no small surprise either. If there was one position the Whitecaps seemed to be set at, it was forward. In addition to Designated Player Eric Hassli and former No. 1 overall SuperDraft pick Omar Salgado, the Whitecaps have this year's No. 2 overall draft pick Darren Mattocks and the rights to Camilo Sanvezzo and Etienne Barbara.

"Sebastien is a proven goalscorer and playmaker in Major League Soccer," Whitecaps coach Martin Rennie said in a team release. "He is a durable, fit, and speedy attacker, who is capable of playing either up front or wide in midfield. We’re delighted to bring Sebastien back to the Pacific Northwest and add another quality player to our squad."

From the Union's perspective, it would appear coach Peter Nowak is in full-on youth mode. In Le Toux's place are a group of players that show great promise, but are also extremely young. Danny Mwanga (20), Jack McInerney (19) and Josue Martinez (21) would appear to be their top options at forward. This move, along with Monday's sale of goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon, is also expected to give the Union the ability to purchase Jose Torres' full transfer. Nowak alluded to that in comments he made on the Union's website.

"While this decision wasn't easy, we are confident that the allocation money we receive will provide the flexibility for us to compile the best possible roster for 2012 and beyond," Nowak said.

For more on this trade, be sure to check out Union blog Brotherly Game and Whitecaps blog 86 Forever.

As crazy and hard to believe as it may be, there are lots of signs pointing to Sebastien Le Toux being traded from the Philadelphia Union to the Vancouver Whitecaps. The strongest indication comes from this Tweet from a Vancouver-area reporter:

Expect announcement as early as tomorrow on Le Toux. #WhitecapsFC #MLS

— Irfaan Gaffar (@IrfaanGaffar) January 31, 2012

If this development has your head spinning, you're not alone. It was just about a week ago that Le Toux seemed to be heading to Bolton on a transfer. When news started to come out that he was heading back to the United States, most Union fans assumed it would be to play for their team. The Union, though, appear to have decided to move in another direction after stockpiling several young forwards during the offseason.

That he's apparently going to Vancouver is nearly as big of a surprise. The Whitecaps' biggest needs seem to be in the midfield and on defense. Le Toux has been at his best while playing forward. If reports of Martin Rennie planning to install a 4-3-3 are accurate, though, the move does make a little more sense. Le Toux could play one of the wide forward positions with Camilo Sanvezzo on the other side and Eric Hassli at the top. It would be a dangerous attack, to be sure, even if a lot of the team's resources are tied up in the attacking core.

For more on this trade, be sure to check out Union blog Brotherly Game and Whitecaps blog 86 Forever.

The transfer saga of Sebastien Le Toux appears to have taken a highly unexpected turn. Citing an anonymous source close to the situation, Brotherly Game is reporting that Le Toux is heading back to MLS, but that the Philadelphia Union may trade him to another team. Right now, the most likely trade partner appears to be the Vancouver Whitecaps, although Le Toux is reportedly trying to remain with the Union.

News first surfaced a little more than a week ago that Le Toux was heading to Bolton on a possible transfer. But after trialling with the team for about week, Bolton has apparently decided to explore other options. That seemed to herald his return to the Union, who are facing a bit of a potential logjam at forward. In addition to Danny Mwanga continuing to press for minutes, they signed Saprissa standout Josue Martinez in the offseason.

Making Le Toux the odd man out in that situation would seem to be an odd choice, being as he's excelled as a forward. During two seasons with the Union, Le Toux has scored 25 goals and registered 20 assists, most of which have come while playing up top.

Maybe Sebastien Le Toux won't be joining Bolton, after all. Bolton coach Owen Coyle is quoted by Sporting Life as saying that Le Toux did not do enough during a trial to warrant a transfer, seemingly meaning that the forward would return to the Philadelphia Union.

"Sebastien came in for a couple of days, and to be fair to him he hadn't trained for four or five weeks. He did fine and that's where it is. We'd have probably needed a longer look."

As Union blog Brotherly Game notes, the only thing that is odd about this is that Sporting Life is seemingly the only outlet with this quote. It also seems to contradict comments MLSSoccer.com writer Joe Prince-Wright made about the trial going well.

Assuming these quotes aren't fabricated, though, this is clearly good news for the the Union. It's starting to look a little crowded at forward, but that can't possibly be a bad thing. Le Toux has been the Union's best player in each of their first two years and he would have been undeniable missed if he were to leave.

Sebastien Le Toux's move to Bolton may not be quite as much of a done deal as previously reported, but manager Owen Coyle did confirm that the Philadelphia Union forward is on trial with the Wanderers (via SkySports). Le Toux, who was playing in the USL as recently as 2008, will apparently have about a week to prove his worth.

"We have received good reports about Sebastien, so we thought we would give him an opportunity to come into the group," confirmed the Scot. "He will train with us for a week and we will see where we are after that."

Coyle denied that a deal is already in place for Le Toux's transfer. What kind of price Le Toux could fetch is a bit of an unknown. He is 28 years old and really only has two years of top-level play under his belt. Previous transfers from MLS have usually been for more defensive players or ones that were considerably younger.

If Le Toux were to join Bolton, he could end up being one of three former MLS players on the team. Stuart Holden is already there and the Wanderers are still in talks to bring Tim Ream to Reebok Stadium. Ream's work-permit hearing has reportedly been pushed back until next week. Le Toux would require no such hearing as he is a French citizen and thus automatically qualified.

For more on Le Toux's situation, be sure to check out Union blog Brotherly Game and Bolton blog Lion of Vienna Suite.