After a prolonged transfer saga, Magnus Eriksson finally returned to his former club Djurgårdens IF for an undisclosed transfer fee on Friday.
The attacking midfielder played sixty-nine league games for the San Jose Earthquakes after joining the club for a record-breaking transfer fee of $1.4 million in December 2017. Although he scored thirteen goals and notched fourteen assists in that time, many of his most important contributions, including his excellent distribution and defensive diligence, went under the radar. He struggled under the leadership of Mikael Stahre in his first season at the club but enjoyed a quiet resurgence under Matias Almeyda, assuming the club captaincy.
Having been a standout performer for the Quakes at the recent MLS is Back tournament, Eriksson is leaving the club on a high note. Despite this recent popularity, a return to Djurgårdens, with whose directors he maintained frequent contact while in San Jose, felt inevitable once it became clear that the Quakes were not going to offer him a new contract to replace his original three-year deal, which was due to expire in December.
Since Eriksson could have left on a free this offseason, it is unlikely that the Quakes received more than a couple hundred thousand dollars for the transfer. The reason Djurgårdens IF wanted to secure the deal now instead of waiting until December was so that Eriksson could play in their remaining Allsvenskan matches and, importantly, their upcoming Europa League qualifiers. According to Elliott Almond of the San Jose Mercury News, Eriksson will be available to play for the Swedish club as early as August 30th.
The deal also has immediate consequences for the Earthquakes, who are scheduled to play the Portland Timbers next Wednesday in their first match at Avaya Stadium since the MLS season was postponed in April due to the Covid-19 crisis. These are three ways in which Eriksson’s departure affects the club’s short-term and long-term prospects:
A Gaping Hole in Central Midfield
Eriksson’s departure presents coach Matias Almeyda with an immediate tactical challenge: how to replace the Swede for San Jose’s upcoming MLS games. Eriksson has been a fixture in Almeyda’s midfield, starting in thirty-seven of Almeyda’s thirty-nine games in charge of the Quakes, and there is no obvious like-for-like replacement on hand.
However, those two games he was rested last season offer some clues as to how Almeyda might approach these next six games.
In the first match, against DC United, Almeyda moved Vako centrally and played Danny Hoesen wide left. This scenario seems the most likely because Vako is the team’s next most experienced number ten, having played centrally throughout his career, most prominently for the Georgian national team. Hoesen prefers playing as a number nine but has the pace to play on the wing and has been called upon by Almeyda to play there before. Sixteen-year-old upstart Cade Cowell, who made a promising impression in his substitute appearances at the MLS is Back tournament, is also a candidate to take that position, as is veteran midfielder Shea Salinas.
Almeyda could also slot Andy Rios into the number ten role and play Hoesen up top as he did against LAFC in Eriksson’s second absence last season. However, this situation seems less likely since Rios has established himself as the team’s starting number nine and since Hoesen is out of favor. Chris Wondolowski could start up top instead, but it seems unwise to rebuild around a thirty-seven-year-old, even if that thirty-seven-year-old is still scoring goals on a regular basis as a substitute.
With all of these changes, Almeyda must also be mindful of what the Quakes will look like next season. General manager Jesse Fioranelli has slated this offseason as a transitional phase for the team, with Daniel Vega, Oswaldo Alanis, Guram Kashia, Tommy Thompson, Shea Salinas, Paul Marie, Luis Felipe, Matt Bersano, Wondo, and Hoesen all out of contract, according to Colin Etnire’s comprehensive salary spreadsheet.
A lot of fans have been clamoring to see Jack Skahan, Eric Calvillo, and Gilbert Fuentes get some MLS minutes, but it is doubtful that any of them are ready to fill a starting number ten role in Major League Soccer at this point in time. There is particular uncertainty about Fuentes’s match fitness given that the eighteen-year-old underwent surgery to fix a fractured clavicle in late May. Although photos from the team’s social media appear to show that he has returned to training, there’s no word from the club on whether he’s ready for MLS action.
An International Roster Slot
With all of their impending departures, it looks like the Quakes are set to clear roughly $5 million off of their salary books at the end of the year, which is roughly half of their total 2020 salary expenditures.
Eriksson’s departure gives the team another crucial resource: an international roster spot. If Vega also departs, which seems increasingly likely given his disappointing performance at the MLS is Back tournament, that would give General Manager Jesse Fioranelli at least two to work with.
He has already earmarked one of them. In an interview with Quakes Talk and other news outlets last winter, Fioranelli promised to sign a young DP from an “important market” in South America at some point this year. Indeed, it is possible that this player will become San Jose’s next number ten.
A Vacant Captaincy
Eriksson’s departure also leaves the club captaincy vacant, and it is unclear who will assume the position.
Chris Wondolowski and Shea Salinas have both worn the armband for San Jose, but neither of them were starters during the MLS is Back tournament. While Daniel Vega and Guram Kashia both have the requisite leadership qualities, they’re both out of contract at the end of the year, and Almeyda might prefer someone who has a more certain future at the club.
An underrated choice could be Tommy Thompson, who is the club’s next most tenured player behind Wondo and Salinas and has been a public mouthpiece for the team during the Covid-19 crisis. As a homegrown player and favorite of Almeyda, he’s the perfect candidate on paper. The only concern, frankly, is that he may be just too damn nice to lead the team in the heat of battle.
Although Eriksson was mind-mannered off the pitch, he showed a lot of intensity and a willingness to butt heads on the field, which made him suitably intimidating for the role. The Quakes will miss his leadership as much as his tactical attributes.