Dunseth: Unconfirmed Reports Say That Carlos Ruiz Transfer Was For $500,000

Fox Soccer Channel sideline reporter Brian Dunseth told viewers of the Real Salt Lake and New York Red Bulls game on Saturday that unconfirmed reports have placed the value of Carlos Ruiz's transfer to Veracruz at $500,000.

Dunseth couldn't say if the $500,000 transfer fee was the full price of Ruiz's move to the Tiburones Rojos or the two thirds of the total transfer cost that the Union would receive. If the number is the latter situation, the Union would be due to receive around $333,000.

Based on the numbers available, the Union can afford a designated player through both transfer fees and salary considerations, while also handling the burden of having one or more Generation Adidas players graduate the program after the season ends. With Ruiz's $306,000 salary coming off of the Union's cap, the team is left with approximately $720,502.50 of room without knowing how much Serbian midfielder Veljko Paunovic is being paid in 2011. 

Recently the Union made a bid for Deportivo Saprissa's 21-year-old striker Josue Martinez - which was rejected by the Costa Rican club - and tried to bring in World Cup 2006 winner Fabio Grosso (currently figuring out his contract situation with Juventus), but the former Italian international left back refused the Union's contract offer, according to reports out of Italy.