Home NASL & USL FC Edmonton FC Edmonton sells Shome to MLS: Owner thrilled with breakthrough agreement

FC Edmonton sells Shome to MLS: Owner thrilled with breakthrough agreement

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In what is a unique deal, FC Edmonton has received a transfer fee from MLS for the rights to teenage standout Shamit Shome.

FCE owner Tom Fath said the deal was completed Tuesday. Shome will become one of the new class of Canadian Generation Adidas player and be eligible for the upcoming SuperDraft.

“It’s exciting,” said Fath. “We are very proud of our academy developing Shamit here in Edmonton; that led to an opportunity with FC Edmonton’s first team, to achieving this honour.”

Fath wouldn’t disclose how much the Eddies received from MLS, but he said “it’s an exciting moment in the team’s history.”

Shome played 26 games for the Eddies last season, and balanced his playing career with his studies at the University of Alberta. He actually wrote exams and played in the same week. He captained the Canadian U-20 team last season and was part of the squad that beat Marcus Rashford and England. Shome said he hopes, if situation allows, that he can still take a couple of courses and keep up with his schooling after he makes the move to an MLS side, though he understands that soccer comes first.

“It all came together pretty quickly, to be honest,” said Shome. He said it wasn’t till a couple of days ago that the move to MLS went from being a dream to a real possibility. “It’s really exciting for me, a chance to go and take my game to the next level.”

Shome is an intelligent midfielder who thinks through the game at a level beyond his age. He’s a great passer of the ball and will likely be one of the hot properties at the SuperDraft. If picked, he’ll join what’s becoming a healthy contingent of Edmonton-bred players in MLS, along with the likes of Alphonso Davies and Tosaint Ricketts.

“I think Edmonton deserves to be recognized for the great players it produces,” said Shome. “I’m very proud to be representing Edmonton; Edmonton will always be my home.”

The deal is unique; usually, Generation Adidas deals go to players who aren’t under existing pro contracts that require transfer fees to shake them loose. It’s a testament to highly Shome is rated amongst the top youth players on the continent. As well, Shome was with the University of Alberta Golden Bears before he signed his pro deal with the Eddies, so it’s a big moment for the CIS to have one of its prospects potentially be a high MLS draft pick.

And, for FCE, this marks the first time the team has received transfer money from MLS. At the end of 2012, a deal was in the works to send then-Eddie Shaun Saiko to the Montreal Impact, but it was aborted. But, if the NASL does survive into 2017 and beyond, it needs to improve its relationship with MLS so more transfers can occur, as they can provide smaller clubs with revenue streams they need.

FCE assistant coach and academy head Jeff Paulus said the deal is a fantastic achievement for the organization.

“It benefits Shamit incredibly, and it also benefits the club and, in particular, our academy,” said Paulus. “If this can become the norm for us every couple of years, the Academy will continue to grow and reward Tom and Dave Fath for their continuing support of this program.”

Coach Colin Miller said that on one hand, he’s disappointed to see Shome leave the club, but he is thrilled that the player has been picked for such an honour.

“Congratulations to Shamit. It speaks volumes to the quality of the the player and the work that young man has put in to get to the next level… I think it shows that we are one of the best in North America at what we do [developing players] considering the resources we have.”

Miller said he now needs to fill a first-team hole in the roster. But, he’s already spoken to two separate agents about midfield possibilities.

“I can’t thank FC Edmonton enough for all they’ve done for me; Colin, Jeff and Tom,” said Shome.

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11 Comments

  1. Steedman

    January 5, 2017 at 9:55 am

    Not just the conditioning of young prospects, but also the signings! FC Edmonton has had some great signings they could have flipped for a profit with Laing and Van Oekel, it unfortunately didn’t play out like that but this club is on its way to turning a profit in a variety of ways!

  2. john anderson

    January 4, 2017 at 5:21 pm

    I think you should take Joe Petrone comments with a grain of salt. Where you expecting the Manu class of 92?! Before Joe Petrone was at fced he was at Holy Trinity Soccer Academy where the their top high school players would get scholarships to Memphis University.

    The Academy started 2012 0r 2013. First graduating class/players in the academy still has 3 first players on the roster 4 years later.

    – Sadi Jalali(25 professional appearances) might play somewhere else one day. Currently playing for NAIT
    – Hanson Boakai (34 professional appearances) might play somewhere else one day
    – Mallan Roberts (69 professional appearances) capped by Canada Senior Team. One successful loan.
    – Allan Zebie (32 appearances)
    – Marko Aleskic (3 apperances)
    – Amer Didic (Swope Park Rangers 2016 USL All-League First Team)
    – Amer Hallic(SOLD to a div.4 club in Germany)
    – Shamit Shome (SOLD to MLS)

    NCAA/CIS Prospects
    Ajeej Sarkarkia
    UofA CIS Soccer Team
    Noah Cunnigham
    Aymar Sigue
    Thomas Shores

  3. cwell

    January 4, 2017 at 2:39 pm

    Am I wrong in thinking that Shamit was studying engineering? If he was, that’s particularly impressive, to have completed a degree in engineering at the U of A, while playing professional soccer.

  4. Flips

    January 4, 2017 at 12:26 pm

    Big question, does this make him a domestic league wide? Guessing not, but it would really help his opportunities.

    • Steven Sandor

      January 4, 2017 at 12:32 pm

      An exception would need to be made. Remember that the new rule states that, to be domestic league-wide, a player’s first pro contract would need to be with an MLS team or its USL affiliate. Shome’s first pro deal was with an NASL side. Now, if MLS decides to change a rule to suit a player or team, well that’s never been done before 🙂

      • Flips

        January 4, 2017 at 12:49 pm

        If they make FC Edmonton a “designated” academy, would that clear it up, I wonder. Otherwise GA Canada might not really mean much in many cases. Especially if/when CPL becomes a thing.

  5. Decin

    January 4, 2017 at 11:10 am

    Let’s be honest. The FCE academy has been a dud. Remember, it was setup a few years ago with the naive notion that FCE could bypass MLS and sell players to Europe. That is what Joe Petrone was hoping for. That never happened outside of one transfer to a 4th tier German club. Now they are hoping MLS bails them out once again.

    • marty

      January 4, 2017 at 12:34 pm

      The academy has been excellent at developing domestic talent and that’s exactly what we need more of in Canada. Wake up.

    • Eddies Forever

      January 4, 2017 at 5:27 pm

      The FC Edmonton Academy has been and will continue to be an excellent one, you don’t seem to know what your talking about re this or the NASL.

      • Flips

        January 5, 2017 at 1:34 am

        It depends on your perspective. Originally there was talk (maybe more amoung supporters than the team) that perhaps the team could sell to even 2nd or 3rd division Europe with some regularity, and perhaps make the team some income. In that regard, it hasn’t been successful at all. A few trials (Boakai and Jalali) in the early years but nothing came of them. If you look at the steady stream of game day 18s that we have developed, it has been a success. The only quibble there is that very few have been able to become steady presence in the 11 before Shome. Roberts, A. Zebie, B. Zebie, Jalali, Boakai, and Mortotsi have all come up and had varying degrees of middling success.

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