MONTREAL – Jesse March did indeed speak with Nicolas Anelka about joining the Impact. But that’s all you’ll get from the Montreal head coach on the subject of the Chelsea hit man for now.
“We did speak to him,” Marsch admitted to MLSsoccer.com on Monday, before adding that, “from here on, I’m not going to comment on that anymore.”
This past Saturday, the mercurial French striker was granted his request to depart Chelsea by manager André Villas-Boas. According to reports, Anelka has made a decision as to what club he’ll be joining during the January transfer window, but did not give specifics.
Meanwhile, Marsch and Montreal are focusing on the MLS Re-Entry Draft Process.
“There are some interesting names on that list,” Marsch said of the available players. “Most of these players are on it because their salaries have gotten pretty high.”
Monday’s first stage of the Re-Entry Process saw just three players selected – defender Danleigh Borman by the New England Revolution, midfielder Arturo Alvarez by Chivas USA and defender Carlos Mendes by the Columbus Crew. Montreal, with the 19th pick, declined to make a selection.
“We’ll be careful about how we proceed,” Marsch tsaid. “In the second round, we’ll think a bit more about what we think might fit, but overall, I don’t expect us to have a lot of action.”
Among the players still available in Stage 2 is Ryan Pore, who was on loan to the Impact last season from the Portland Timbers.
“Ryan and I have had a good conversation about this,” Marsch said. “I do think he still has a lot of good qualities and he is a guy that we could still think about. But the way it works with contracts, we thought it was best to have him in that list.”
Not on the list anymore is Montreal’s 2011 goalkeeper Greg Sutton, who was on loan from the New York Red Bulls. The netminder’s future with the Impact is unknown.
“I won’t talk about that just yet,” Marsch said of Sutton’s situation. “Yes, I can confirm that we have taken his name off the list.”
