Mathis to Greece, Goodson to Norway

Clint Mathis is taking another stab at European football as has left the LA Galaxy and signed with Greece side Ergotelis. His last gig in Europe didn't end so well and his second stand in MLS was mostly a wash. Perhaps a chance with a team that is interested in having him play will motivate him to return to form, as it was obvious MLS bored him. Then again at 31, it might just be too late.

Either way, LA has just opened up a lot of salary space with this move. Mathis's base salary for 2007 was $410,000. Add to it the $190,000 from Cannon and you've got a good amount of lout to play around with during the transfer window.

In other news, San Jose will not have the services of Clarence Goodson for their first season as he has decided to give Europe a go after signing with Norwegian side IK Start. Start is a famed club in Norway but after a bad season last year is in their second division. However, the team is making the need investments to turn things around and return to top level after this season.

Goodson has all the makings of a fantastic player and more then deserves this chance at the big time. My guess is he will only be in Norway a couple seasons at most before a bigger club comes looking. Also, since Goodson is gone without playing a single game for San Jose, FCD's decision to leave him unprotected makes a lot more sense, but since he was out of contract, one has to wonder why the 'Quakes picked him. Maybe they were hoping he wouldn't go till the summer transfer window?

Update: For those who might be wondering what Mathis's new Greek club is saying on their website concerning this trade, here is a translation from a Greek friend of my wife.

PAE (the soccer team) gets Clint Mathis for one year. He was born 1/25/76 and is 1.77 meters tall. The rest talks about the teams he was on in the bast.

So no real news other then it being a one-year deal.