Last September the Whitecaps made quite the fanfare about new midfield signing Nosa Igiebor. Described as the box-to-box player the club had been missing since time began, Robbo proclaimed “When you have an opportunity to bring in a player with this pedigree, you take it.”

All looked well as Robbo flipped the deck on the fly, solidifying his midfield in the summer transfer window with two savvy free agent signings (Nosa and Ghazal), but for one caveat – Nosa was only signed to a 4 month contract with an option for 2018. On the surface it looked like a try before you buy deal, daring the player to perform and prove his worth for the pay grade he felt he deserved…and it was.

When Nosa finally got himself up to full fitness, Robbo wasted no time throwing him to the wolves. His first match was a last day showdown for first in the West vs arch nemesis Portland. He followed that performance up by supplanting midfield incumbent, Tony Tchani, to start both matches of the semi-finals vs yet another massive rival in Seattle. You literally couldn’t find 3 more important matches to give your audition in.

So how did he do, you ask? Well Robbo had this to say about his playoff performance, “I thought Nosa over the two games was arguably one of our best players.” Lenarduzzi then added, “…after the three games that [Nosa] played, I think we’re feeling like, you know this guy could be a solid midfielder…I think he WILL be a solid midfielder in this league.”

The stats also backed up the praise for Nosa’s performance – he finished with a 91.3% passing accuracy, on an average of 49.7 passes per match. To put that into perspective, Darlington Nagbe – who was just bought by Atlanta United for $1.65m in Allocation (an MLS record), based upon the fact that he “had the highest retention rate of possession in the league this year.” – finished with a 92.9% passing accuracy, on an average of 49.2 passes per game. So if Nosa continued to play at these same levels over the course of a full season, we’re talking about a player who’d be in amongst the discussion of best midfielders in MLS.

That means Nosa proved his worth, right? So why didn’t the ‘Caps pick up his option, you ask? According to sources, Nosa’s option was for around $500k, but the money wasn’t the reason for his departure – instead a disagreement over air travel (business class vs economy) was cited as the main culprit. There’s some discrepancy between sources on just how much of a demand was placed regarding air travel – one says it was simply for his ticket home, the other says it was for all travel – but in the end neither side were willing to back down and the Whitecaps felt that the demand was too much to bring him back.

When asked about Nosa’s status in his most recent interview Robbo responded, “We took a risk on Nosa…he had been at two or three different clubs in two or three years…I want good character guys…players that are going to represent the club, be part of the team, work hard, be committed. Because this is a fantastic club to work for.” Criticizing a player’s character and commitment, after building that same player up only a few short months ago, tends to smell an awful lot like damage control. What he probably should’ve said is we’re not bringing Nosa back because he made demands that would’ve given him preferential treatment relative to the rest of the squad, and we were worried about how that might effect the harmony within the group. People tend to understand these sorts of situations better when you talk to them straight.

Regardless of however you want to spin it though, what this really comes down to is MLS’ status as a “Major” league. It’s sometimes hard for players to come here, after playing in top leagues in Europe, and understand that they’re meant to fly economy or share a room with another player on the road. Until MLS sorts themselves out, I’m sure this won’t be the last time we hear of a player’s “questionable character and commitment.”

It’s expected that Nosa will be placed on waivers soon, making him available to each MLS club in reverse order of the final 2017 standings. There are numerous clubs said to be interested.