Hassani Dotson is still with Minnesota United — but he’s still not exactly happy.
In late January, the Loons midfielder — whose contract is up at the end of this year — made his unhappiness with the front office known, and publicly demanded a trade.
It was certainly an uncommon outcome for an MLS contract negotiation, but perhaps even less common is that it hasn’t changed his status with the team at all. Dotson is still with the Loons, and has started all three of Minnesota’s games this year — once at each of the three spots in the team’s midfield.
It was clear that Dotson hasn’t enjoyed being publicly discontent with his situation. “It’s someplace I thought I’d end my career at, so just being that in the public, it’s something that I’ve grown to handle with,” he said Tuesday, addressing the issue publicly for the first time. “So hoping for the best, but we’ll see.”
The last time the MLS Players Association released its biannual salary guide, last September, Dotson was listed as making a little more than $550,000 in guaranteed compensation — in the middle of the pack for an MLS player.
Minnesota has built up a good amount of payroll flexibility, including the league’s third-largest stockpile of allocation money (effectively, salary-cap space). But chief soccer officer Khaled El-Ahmad has been open about his desire for his squad to get younger — which included him signing two 24-and-under midfielders this offseason, in Hoyeon Jung and Owen Gene.
That said, Minnesota has offered Dotson new contracts, including more money, but the two sides haven’t been able to come to terms.
By Dotson’s own admission, his contract situation led to what he termed “a couple of dips in form” last season. The midfielder started almost every game for Minnesota, but was sent off twice — once in MLS play and once in the Leagues Cup — and by his own admission, he was trying to learn to manage the off-field distractions.
