Whitecaps end Parker era for package from New York

The Vancouver Whitecaps 2018 close season has had two defining events: signing Anthony Blondell from Monagas SC in late November, and sending their 2019 first round and a conditional 2020 second-round SuperDraft selection to New England Revolution for Kei Kamara. With Blondell and Kamara, Vancouver finally has both a second striker and a centre forward again, something they've been sorely lacking since the days of Camilo Sanvezzo and Kenny Miller.

Not so fast. Before opening the roof on the 2018 campaign, Vancouver had one more piece of business to complete. Tim Parker wanted out.

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If you have to sell a Tim Parker, then you've already made a mistake

As per Kristian Dyer of the Metro New York newspaper, Tim Parker is said to have rejected an offer of 1.4 million over three years, or about $14,000 shy of the 2017 Designated Player threshold, and $58,000 less than he is reportedly seeking. All figures in USD.

Now, if you hadn't already realised by now, this is going to get a bit numbers heavy, but trust us, there's a point to it all.

According to the Players Union, Parker earned just shy of $100,000 last year. When it comes to professional athletes, $180,000 over three years doesn't exactly sound like a lot of money. But the Major League isn't like other leagues, in football, or in North America.

In 2014, Sportsmail compiled a list of 34 leagues from around the world and found that the average salary of a Major League player was 22nd, below that of the Greek Superleague, but above Columbia's Liga Águila.

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