Good Monday morning Caps fans. Hope you are all gearing up for post holiday life and that the start of your week is going well.
It appears the next major domino has fallen in the Whitecaps’ off-season, with Ali Ahmed now officially sold to Norwich City in the Championship. The exact fee isn’t yet known, but it is rumored to be around £1.4 million, which would generate a considerable amount of GAM for the Caps.
There are a couple of dimensions to this deal. For Ali, I worry about whether this is a team that will suit him. Norwich have been pretty abysmal, going from being on the brink of promotion to fighting to remain in the Championship period. I don’t doubt he has the skills to succeed at this level, but this environment isn’t likely to be a patient one that will give him time to settle in and develop ahead of the World Cup. Still, I wish him well and hope I am wrong in this assessment. Ali worked hard to grow into a player worthy of a European move, and he deserves a shot at success over there.
For the Whitecaps, this certainly changes my perception of the Jayden Nelson trade. While still a nice windfall, losing two of your paciest, most dangerous 1v1 players in the same off-season hurts. Presumably, an Ali move was already in the works then, which makes me somewhat question the wisdom of letting Nelson walk as well.
Still, Axel Schuster made it sound like the club exhausted all avenues to reach a contract extension with Ali, but were rebuffed and thus tried to get the best fee they could. Those efforts deserve to be commended. Vancouver will remain in the market for a winger, but this ratchets up the urgency considerably. Ali was certainly a key piece down the stretch and was at the center of things in MLS Cup. His highlight reel is a long one from last season, and that underscores the fact that he has become much more consistent and a smarter player with the ball at his feet in the box. That isn’t easy to replace, particularly if it’s with a U22 initiative player who will need time to settle in.
The good news is that this move signifies a huge vote of confidence in Kenji Cabrera, who will be the primary backup at winger this season. His technical ability and dribbling 1v1 have shown signs of being Ahmed-esque, and he certainly was as advertised in his first season in Vancouver. Jesper Sorensen clearly rates him, and he’ll be an obvious player to take the next step, as Ali himself did under the new manager. If Ryan Gauld is fit and firing, things could continue to flow for the Caps next season. You trust Sorensen to figure it out — it just will look and feel significantly different from what it did in 2025.
Best of the Rest
More on Ali’s arrival in Norwich as the newest Canaries player.
A look at how the World Cup will impact USMNT players moving abroad — potentially including Seb Berhalter.
Former Crew manager Wilfried Nancy is officially out at Celtic after a nightmare stint in charge, culminating in an Old Firm collapse.
Who might be back — and who won’t — for Vancouver FC next season.
loosing Nelson is not a big loss IMO- sure, he had some pace, but after the first 2 months, he had little impact in games as his dribbling was quite abysmal and nobody- including himself- knew where he was going with the ball at his feet
Ali Ahmed has some well displayed trickery and yet had little impact in the goals and assists- i think cabrera will be a lot like Ali, but far more dangerous in getting offensive stats- Kenji deserves a chance to show what he can do- and if it doesnt pan out, then Axel will have around $4 mill this summer to get a player at LW-
i see no need to be despondent or make any hurried decision to replace Ali and Jayden
one thing we should have all learned from 2025 is that the Caps can adapt very well and talent emerges from unexpected players (hello Ralph Priso)
But i do expect Axel to add 1 player to the MF
Salty