Whitecaps release Arnoux so he can make MLS debut

The Cody Arnoux saga is close to a resolution.

The Vancouver Whitecaps released the former Everton prospect on Friday, paving the way for Arnoux to make his MLS debut. He was allocated to Real Salt Lake later in the day through a weighted lottery that six teams, including the Whitecaps, entered.

“Arnoux has expressed his intention to play in MLS and as a result, the club has made the decision to release him from his existing contract to allow him the opportunity to pursue an MLS contract,” said Whitecaps spokesman Nathan Vanstone. “MLS will decide the best way for him to enter the league.”

Arnoux, who was one of the NCAA’s top players when he was at Wake Forest, went to Everton to try and make his fortune in the English Premiership. Last season, Arnoux, returned to North America and signed a deal with the Whitecaps to play in the USSF Div.-2. MLS blocked the Whitecaps from bringing Arnoux to MLS, though, arguing that signing Arnoux before the club officially entered the league was a way of circumventing the allocation process. MLS ruled that, if Arnoux was to come into the league, he’d have to come in through a mechanism approved by the league.

When MLS and Arnoux got close to a deal, Vancouver gave him his release, allowing him to be eligible for the lottery

But, it doesn’t mean that who ever gets him in the lottery will necessarily keep him for the 2011 season. Last year, when U.S. teen prospect Luis Gil signed with MLS, he was put in a weighted lottery. The Kansas City Wizards won his rights, but he’d already stated that he wanted to play for either Real Salt Lake or the Seattle Sounders. The Wizards then dealt Gil to RSL for a second-round pick, an international allocation and some money. So, following the Gil example, don’t be shocked if the team that ends up getting Arnoux will deal him.

The Whitecaps also announced that supplemental draft picks Santiago Bedoya and Joe Anderson had been released from camp.