Rolfe said that Aalborg, known as AaB, attempted to buy him from the league last summer, but M.L.S. turned down the offer.
As for why that transfer request was denied?
"We never got a response [from MLS] as far as I'm concerned," a somewhat confused Rolfe explained. "I personally did not hear any reasoning behind it."
So why is he leaving now? Well, there's money, and apparently an issue of respect:
"We have been trying to renegotiate with Chicago for the last two years now," said the 26-year-old Rolfe. "But unfortunately it was always us starting the negotiations and them coming back with - in our opinion - a rather disrespectful offer... so we decided to go ahead and sign a pre-contract [with Aalborg]."
A fifth year veteran, Rolfe - who traveled to Denmark last weekend - said that even if the Fire had offered him more money than Aalborg it still would have been tough to say no to the Danish side.
"It has a lot to do with the way you're treated," said Rolfe. "So as much as I love the guys here, and the fans, and the stadium, and playing in front of my family there's a lot to be said for the way that I was treated when I went to Denmark and for the things that [Aalborg are] willing to do to help me be happy and comfortable."
And let's give a big cheer to MLS contracts with 4 year options!
"If I signed another contract here I'd be stuck probably for another four years. If I sign over there there's the potential for doing well and going to a better league, and then continuing to go. The sky's the limit over there. You do well and you can move up the ladder."
Although you can find him saying otherwise elsewhere, it's pretty clear that there was a good chance Rolfe would have stayed if he had been treated decently in negotiations. Getting benched earlier in the year probably didn't help matters. And I'm sure his head got turned a little once the transfer offer and money was put in front of him.
For me the departure of Rolfe is disappointing. Here's a young, talented, likable American entering his prime who's going to Scandinavia as opposed to staying in MLS. If you're looking for someone to blame, and I really am in the mood right now, I think this comes down mostly on salary mismanagement by the Fire, with a helping of MLS inflexibility thrown in to seal the deal. On the other hand, in MLS, is Rolfe worth the reported $333,000 a year that he'll be getting in Denmark? Maybe. I'd put him in the $250k range, myself. But what's $75,000 a year among friends?
On the other hand, here's a player that might not have made it in Europe without doing MLS first (as Rolfe himself has said), so from that point, mission accomplished. But for me this is another Pat Noonan - a good American player, maybe not first eleven national team quality, who felt he got jerked around and could make more money elsewhere for less headaches. It will be interesting to see if MLS continues to let guys like this go abroad.
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