CHESTER, Pa. -- Bakary Soumare has had enough of the bench and his time with the Union.
Following the Union’s loss to Sporting Kansas City on March 2, and with his failure to crack the opening day lineup, Soumare immediately requested a trade, according to Union coach John Hackworth on Wednesday.
The Union have agreed to honor his wishes.
“After the game against Sporting KC, Baky came to [Union CEO and Operator Partner] Nick Sakiewicz and then to myself asking to be traded because he is not happy not being a starter,” Hackworth said. “He felt like he was in the prime of his career and that’s what he came here to do. Absolutely respect that and I understand where he’s coming from.
“As of now, Baky is a Philadelphia Union player but I can’t tell you how this is going to go. I’m hopeful we can find a resolution for both us and him. There’s a reason we brought him here and reason he’s still here.”
Acquired as the cornerstone of the Union back line in January, 2012, Soumare, 27, suffered a mix of injury and roster competition, limiting him to just one start in his first year with the Union. With optimism that he would be the Union’s go-to center back in 2013, the 6-foot-4 defender was once again left out of Hackworth’s plans, which favored Amobi Okugo at that position.
“That’s the core thing I want to get across -- the reason Baky’s situation changed from when he arrived to now is that Amobi Okugo has been a revelation,” Hackworth said. “We put him at center back, he was really good last year and continued that. Our recent results (2-1-0) are evidence of that continuing. When you have players playing that well you have tough decisions. Baky or Amobi at center back is the toughest one.”
An interesting caveat of the Soumare situation is that Hackworth did intend to give the Mali national selective starts, in particular a shot against the Colorado Rapids in the Union’s second game. However, asking for a trade one week prior, Soumare made it clear he wasn’t interested in sharing time on the field.
“It changes the coach’s mindset when you have a player who says he’s not happy and wants to be somewhere else,” Hackworth said. “It has a major effect. Baky is a good pro, so we’ve been very honest and up front with each through the whole process. I told him we would be looking to play him against Colorado and asked him it would change anything for him. He said no. He wanted to see if there were any opportunities out there for him. That’s why Baky was on the bench against Colorado.”
Asked what he expects in return for Soumare, Hackworth was unsure.
“We need to make sure we make a good decision for the Philadelphia Union,” the coach said. “I can’t tell you if it would be for money or a trade for a player. We weigh those options and have for the last two weeks. This has been going on.”
Without Soumare in reserve, the Union appear short at center mid. And although the team has admitted to contemplating a depth move, Hackworth says he feels fine with his squad moving forward without Soumare in the mix.
“We have options that we are comfortable with,” Hackworth said. “It doesn’t mean we want to lose Baky but if he did leave, I’d feel comfortable that if something happened to Jeff [Parke] or Amobi, that we could deal with it properly.
“You have a veteran like Chris Albright, who has played as a center back, Sheanon Williams has also played there. We know what he’s capable of. We could move Ray Gaddis back to his natural right back and then we’d look at familiar options at left back. In our locker room already we feel like we have options.”