FC Cincinnati's trade to send Frankie Amaya to the New York Red Bulls was publicly confirmed Tuesday after first being reported by The Enquirer April 9.
In exchange for Amaya, FC Cincinnati will net $950,000 in general allocation money, or "GAM," a movable financial asset within Major League Soccer. With performance incentives for Amaya's play with the Red Bulls, FCC could receive up to an additional $125,000 in GAM, which would bring the total value of the trade to $1,075,000 GAM.
Additionally, FC Cincinnati will receive a percentage of any future transfer fee should New York transfer Amaya outside of MLS, FCC stated in a team news release.
“It is always difficult to make these types of decisions as we part ways with one of our first MLS players,” FC Cincinnati General Manager Gerard Nijkamp said in the news release. “With that said, this move represents great value and ultimately provides greater flexibility as we continue to improve our roster. We wish Frankie all the best in the next phase of his career.”
On the Red Bulls side of the deal, Amaya signed a new three-year MLS contract that will go into effect for 2022, with club options for one additional season.
Amaya had one guaranteed year left on his deal with FC Cincinnati, which also included two years of club options.
Amaya's negotiation with the Red Bulls on a new contract was believed to be part of the holdup in the clubs publicly confirming the trade after The Enquirer first reported on the trade April 9.
A source confirmed to The Enquirer earlier Tuesday that the deal was completed and could be announced in the coming hours or days even as Amaya remained listed as an FC Cincinnati player on the club's website.
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There wasn't much doubt the deal would be finalized even as behind-the-scenes work continued on the trade.
Amaya's last official day at FCC's Mercy Health Training Center in Milford, Ohio was April 9. He hasn't been back since and he wasn't expected back.
Obviously, Amaya also wasn't involved in FC Cincinnati's season-opening match against Nashville SC on Saturday.
The finalization of the trade saw FC Cincinnati officially conclude a months-long drama with Amaya.
FC Cincinnati received trade offers for Amaya during the winter but insisted they weren't interested in swapping for him.
Amaya later went public with a trade request, telling The Athletic via a representative in February, "I have asked the club to trade me as I don’t feel my goals can be achieved in Cincinnati."
FC Cincinnati again indicated in a statement its intention to retain Amaya. Club officials acknowledged the difficult 2019 and 2020 seasons but cited their interest in building around Amaya along with newly acquired talents such as Brenner Souza da Silva, who was mentioned by name.
Amaya was called into two separate United States national team camps in recent months. In December, Amaya pulled out of manager Gregg Berhalter's senior men's camp due to a positive COVID-19 test.
The player remained on U.S. Soccer's radar ahead of the busy 2021 calendar and was brought in as part of a youth national team camp for CONCACAF Olympic qualifying, however, Amaya failed to progress to the Under-23 team's final roster.
The Olympic qualifying side advanced from the group-stage but eventually lost in the semifinal round Honduras, eliminating it from the Tokyo Olympics.
Amaya then returned to Cincinnati for preseason where he was something of an enigma.
In a March 30 interview, FC Cincinnati Head Coach Jaap Stam said that while Amaya had rejoined the club and was training, he wasn't physically fit and had been held out of a March 27 scrimmage against the Chicago Fire for that reason.
In the March 30 interview, Stam redirected questions about the prior trade talks and Amaya's future away from his desk.
The manager deferred to other parties for analysis and comment on whether there's a lingering rift between the player and FC Cincinnati following the offseason trade talk.
During a later interview, Stam spoke in general terms about Amaya and didn't confirm the trade was finalized.
"He's been playing a lot of games for us last season," Stam said. "I had the belief in him. It's why he made progress, of course, as a player as well. You help him out as a player and that's what helps him out as well to become a better player. The only thing is, of course, you never know what happens and who is talking into him to bring him into certain situations. For us, it's been very important to handle the situation and, you know, I think the club has been doing very well toward him."
Amaya played in 22 of FC Cincinnati's 23 regular-season matches in 2020. Stam was in charge for 21 of those contests and indicated his preference for Amaya.
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