Julián Carranza’s departure from the Union to Dutch club Feyenoord is official

Julián Carranza’s departure from the Union to Dutch club Feyenoord became official on Sunday, ending the tenure here of a striker who became the team’s No. 3 all-time scorer in just 2½ seasons.

Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but at least there are terms in the first place. Carranza was to be out of contract after this season, and would have left for nothing. Instead, the Union will get a small transfer fee, and a piece of a future transfer fee if Feyenoord sells him to another club.

Another complication is that when the Union bought Carranza from Inter Miami in July 2022 — after initially signing him on loan from the Herons the previous winter — it not only agreed to a sell-on clause with Miami, but picked up the sell-on clause Miami had agreed to with the team it bought Carranza from, Banfield, in his native Argentina.

That further reduces whatever sum the Union will finally put in the bank. But it does not reduce the principle that it’s always better to get something than nothing, especially when the player in question is a 24-year-old striker from one of the world’s top soccer nations.

It also reinforces that the Union’s acquisition of Carranza is one of the great heists of any player deal in MLS history. His 43 goals and 20 assists in 95 games here cost just a $500,000 payment to Miami up front, plus a few years of a salary that topped out at $1 million this year.

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The real money will come from that sell-on clause, if Carranza does enough to attract the attention of other clubs. He certainly will have the chance, because Feyenoord will play in the UEFA Champions League this fall after finishing second in the Netherlands’ Eredivisie. And if Feyenoord sells its top striker, Mexico’s Santi Giménez, this summer, Carranza would likely become the starter.

“I’ve been watching Feyenoord the couple of years in international competition, so that was one of the main points why I wanted to come here,” Carranza told Feyenoord’s website in an interview published with the signing announcement.

He praised the Union as the club where “I found my place, honestly,” after not playing much in his two years in Miami. The Herons spent $6 million to buy Carranza from Banfield as one of the 2020 expansion team’s first signings, but knocked him down the depth chart when more-famous Argentine Gonzalo Higuaín arrived in 2021.

“Miami was a tough team for me,” Carranza said. “I couldn’t play much, I couldn’t show a lot — especially when Gonzalo Higuaín came, it was difficult for me to play minutes.”

In Philadelphia, Carranza said, “I was able to be comfortable outside of the pitch, be comfortable on the pitch. I was truly myself. And then I got to my best level there.”

Feyenoord’s sporting director, Dennis te Kloese, knew where to look to find Giménez’s successor. He previously worked for Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy and the former Chivas USA, and Mexico’s national team. Te Kloese was willing to write a check to get Carranza now instead of waiting until the winter, when the Champions League group stage will be over (and Feyenoord’s run might be, too).

“When I got the call it was, I believe, two or three weeks ago,” Carranza said. “We started talking, and everything went well, pretty fast. So I was happy. They told me, ‘Do you want to go?’ and I was like, ‘Yes, of course, I want to go.’”

A few observers of soccer’s global transfer market were surprised that a club of Feyenoord’s stature made this move. That stemmed from Carranza’s decision last winter to turn down much bigger-money offers from Werder Bremen and Mainz of Germany’s Bundesliga, and Ipswich Town of England’s second-tier Championship.

Ipswich went on to clinch promotion to the Premier League for the coming season, so Carranza could have gone up with them.

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Late last summer, the Union got a $7.5 million offer from Greece’s Olympiakos. Union sporting director Ernst Tanner turned it down for two reasons: he wanted to keep Carranza to go for another deep playoff run, and he thought he could get bigger offers in the winter.

The deep playoff run did not happen, as the Union were bounced in the second round by regular-season champions FC Cincinnati. But the bigger offers did come, only for Carranza to say no to them.

So he stayed, hoping for offers from destinations he’d find more desirable. But while he gave all he had to the Union for the first half of the year, there was little doubt he’d leave at some point — from him or anyone else.

“He has been an integral part of our success, and we are grateful for all he has contributed both on and off the field,” Tanner said in a statement, “but this is the right move for the player as he continues his development and the best move for the club as we look to make adjustments heading towards the summer transfer window.”

Signing a new contract with the Union was never in the cards. Carranza was ready to leave for Europe, and there was the added incentive of hoping to catch the eye of Argentina’s national team two years before the World Cup.

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They know plenty about Carranza in his home country, and talked about him when the reigning World Cup champions played at Lincoln Financial Field in March. The Albiceleste have lots of great players, but only two pure strikers: Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martínez and Manchester City’s Julián Álvarez.

If Carranza can make a good impression with Feyenoord, he’ll get even more attention.

Once the transfer negotiations were close to completion, the Union took Carranza off the field on the eve of the June 15 game against (coincidentally) Miami. He has not played for the club since then, and it was no secret he would not again.

His last goal for the Union came at New England on May 18. His last public appearance at Subaru Park was at an open practice on June 14, where he signed autographs for season ticket-holders at the end.

Carranza stayed in town for a few more days after that, then headed to Buenos Aires to spend some down time with family and friends. That’s where he is now. Feyenoord’s preseason starts in early July, before the new campaign starts on Aug. 10.

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The Union have already turned to Tai Baribo as Mikael Uhre’s new partner on the front line. Baribo scored two goals in his first start after Carranza’s withdrawal, June 19 at FC Cincinnati.

Unless the Union quickly sign a new striker, the Uhre-Baribo tandem is likely to remain atop the depth chart — though Uhre is sidelined by an adductor injury right now. Chris Donovan and Markus Anderson are the other forwards on the roster, with midfielders Quinn Sullivan and Dániel Gazdag sometimes filling in.

Manager Jim Curtin has signaled repeatedly that he does not expect any major new signings this summer, even though Carranza’s departure opens up a valuable Designated Player slot.

At least Tanner’s words that the team is looking “to make adjustments heading towards the summer transfer window” signal that the front office is thinking about it as the Union season spirals into disaster.

Saturday’s 4-2 loss at CF Montréal, where a shorthanded squad led 2-1 at halftime, was the team’s seventh straight game without a win and fourth straight defeat.

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