In the end, Gregg Berhalter isn't entirely sure why the Crew's pursuit of Mix Diskerud did not result in signing the United States national team midfielder. What he does know now is that, from the Crew's perspective, Berhalter feels there wasn't much else he or investor-operator Anthony Precourt could have done.

"I can't answer for their side," Berhalter said after today's practice session at Crew Stadium. " What I would say is we learned of extreme interest. We communicated with them many times. Great talks, great communication. They're very nice people. They're very up front and direct. My conversations with both Mix and his dad were nothing but a pleasure and we went after it. We went after it aggressively and thought this is something that is going to help the team and is going to help the league. Quite honestly, how many guys are going the other way when entering the prime of their career? We thought this was a great step for us and we were there. We were right there.

In the end, Gregg Berhalter isn�t entirely sure why the Crew�s pursuit of Mix Diskerud did not result in signing the United States national team midfielder. What he does know now is that, from the Crew�s perspective, Berhalter feels there wasn�t much else he or investor-operator Anthony Precourt could have done.

�I can�t answer for their side,� Berhalter said after today�s practice session at Crew Stadium. � What I would say is we learned of extreme interest. We communicated with them many times. Great talks, great communication. They�re very nice people. They�re very up front and direct. My conversations with both Mix and his dad were nothing but a pleasure and we went after it. We went after it aggressively and thought this is something that is going to help the team and is going to help the league. Quite honestly, how many guys are going the other way when entering the prime of their career? We thought this was a great step for us and we were there. We were right there.

�In the end, I can�t say why it didn�t go through. We were in a position to present an offer probably 98 percent of the players in the league would take.�

Berhalter said the Crew started seriously tracking Diskerud before the World Cup and that he felt confident the deal would be completed as talks continued. However, he disputed the notion that there was a handshake agreement in place as reported by Sports Illustrated�s Grant Wahl but did confirm that he dealt with Diskerud�s father, Paal.

Diskerud was not the �big national team player� that Berhalter said had reached out to the Crew last week. Multiple sources have told The Dispatch that it was Sacha Kljestan, who is not coming to MLS after all.

�We�ve been working on it for a long time and it�s disappointing, but I feel like we really got to a point where this thing was going, this thing was happening,� Berhalter said. �You take a step back, you look at what could have been better, how you could have finished the deal, but in the end the player�s got to be totally committed to it and it�s got to be something that�s right. Maybe for some reason it wasn�t.�

In a post on BigSoccer�s message boards, a user known to be Diskerud posted a lengthy response to the situation. You can read it by clicking here.

Although yesterday marked the closing of Major League Soccer�s summer transfer window, Berhalter said Diskerud remains a future possibility for the Crew.

�We�re not closing the door,� he said. �We�re still No. 1 in the allocation ranking. I think that�s important because we�re still in that position so the dialogue can continue. We�re not shutting any doors on any player. We have to re-evaluate it and see if it�s the same type of deal we want to do, but we�re not closing any doors.�

ajardy@dispatch.com

@AdamJardy