Good Friday morning Caps fans. Hope you all are having a good week and that you are ready for the weekend.

The big news of this week was not Vancouver’s disappointing (yet electric) 4-3 loss to FC Cincinnati on Wednesday. If only that were the biggest disappointment of the week.

No, it appears the Caps have finalized a deal to sell Sebastian Berhalter to Championship club Middleborough for $2 million. Berhalter, of course, has his contract run out at the end of the year, meaning it was now or never for the Caps to get a fee for him.

This was the elephant in the room of the entire summer transfer window. Berhalter going to the World Cup was always going to increase interest in his services and it makes sense that, once the Caps were unable to secure a contract extension, this was going to be the endgame.

The debate now is whether Vancouver should have just refused to sell now and instead have let Berhalter walk on a free at the end of the season. I have to say that I am inclined to agree with this viewpoint (it isn’t my money after all). Berhalter leaving is a major hit to the Caps’ odds of winning Supporters Shield and MLS Cup. The team will need to try and buy and integrate a new 8 because, no offense to Oliver Larraz and JC Ngando, but there are no options on the roster that do what Berhalter can do. Replacing him on the transfer market will be very difficult.

That $2 million will certainly help, so I can see why any fee is better than nothing. And the club has consistently done right by guys who want to leave and it certainly is on Berhalter’s interest to go now, when he can get a full preseason. Plus, this way we won’t get Berhalter signing a DP deal with LAFC in the off-season.

But this is a tough pill to swallow. Seb has been the crown jewel of all the reclamation projects the Caps have embarked on. The fact that he has become a national team player should be a point of pride for him and the club both. And he has always given 110% for the team. So like Ali Ahmed, I hope he goes and smashes it and earns the Caps a big sell on fee down the line. That won’t make the pain any easier in the short term, though.

Shameless Self Promotion

We have the low down on the Caps’ midweek loss in Cincinnati with the post match and report card.

Best of the Rest

More on the latest with Seb.

Is selling BC Place to the Caps plausible? Probably not, but the province is open to it.

Expect more CPL expansion in the next couple of years.

An interesting look at what comes next for the Northern Super League.