What Marcel Hartel's shocking exit means for St. Louis CITY SC. Plus, a training notebook.

St. Louis CITY SC has a bye week through this weekend’s Leagues Cup Phase 1, but that hasn’t stopped the news cycle of a club in flux during a crucial first summer transfer window for a new front office. A week that originally looked like a perfect opportunity to integrate Carlo Holse looks much different in light of Marcel Hartel’s quick exit. 

The Marcel Hartel Standoff:

Reports came out of left field last week indicating Hartel had been in discussions to sign with 2. Bundesliga side Hannover 96 and that the sides were moving quickly to work out a deal. On face value, it seemed unlikely. Hartel has been one of the best midfielders in MLS this season under Yoann Damet, and Hannover shouldn’t have the financial power to bring in a player on Hartel’s salary and at the reported sticking point of €4 million. 

However, behind the scenes factors were pushing this deal forward, to the point where Hartel reportedly agreed to a lower salary and CITY SC agreed to a sub-€1 million fee. Multiple factors forced this deal through now vs over the offseason. Sources and multiple reports indicate that Hartel has a unique family situation driving him to return home; St. Louis wanted to do right by the player while also ripping the band-aid off to open Hartel’s DP spot with over 3 weeks left in the transfer window.

The timing on that front is worth reflecting on in light of ongoing conversations between Hartel and the club this summer.

Despite one open DP spot, St. Louis had been in the market for a DP 9 while simultaneously finishing the recruitment of Carlo Holse. The club pursued Hugo Cuypers the week before the Holse transfer was finalized. That says that St. Louis has at least been aware of the pending need/flexibility, whether or not the Hartel transfer ever materialized. 

Barring a Hartel interview back in Germany, it’s hard to say what exactly happened to expedite the move, but for now CITY SC is back to square one with a DP, U22, and salary cap to spend in the final month of the transfer window.

In the meantime, I’d expect to see former Vermont Green star Zach Zengue get a call into the first team. Zengue currently sits 2nd in MLS NEXT Pro in goals and leads the league in xG and xG + xA across his Crew2 and CITY2 appearances this season. Zengue has also been training with the first team along with fellow CITY2 wide player Riley Lynch. 

Hartel has started all but 2 matches as the left-sided 10 this season, replaced by Edu Löwen last weekend vs RSL. Carlo Holse is likely to line up on the right to utilize his left foot cutting inside; Damet will have to figure out his long-term solution on that side and whether that is Löwen, Mațán, Zengue (who has looked good with CITY2) or whatever the game plan calls for – much like Sangbin’s starts on the right side. Important to note that Holse has been heralded for his flexibility in the double pivot as well, perhaps more of a sign that Damet will want to move his pieces around depending on the matchup afforded to him, and it’s clear that Damet also prefers Löwen higher up against the ball vs the double pivot as much as his position will always be in flux. 

That’s the rational side of this deal, as much as the transfer fee looks like an absolute steal for Hannover; St. Louis also only spent $350,000 in GAM to acquire Hartel’s rights from Columbus, so they can use this fee to recoup more flexibility around the roster if needed.

That’s hardly going to satiate fans’ feelings of losing the club’s best player without warning, but if Corey Wray can turn around and bring in another option, then it’ll go a ways towards changing that perception. 

Fallou Fall, Conrad Wallem, and Yoann Damet’s individual approach. 

What made the Hartel transfer rumors so hard to believe has been Damet’s close relationship with his star attacker, but it isn’t just Hartel who has grown close to the manager. There is something unique about Damet’s willingness to simply talk to his players.

It’s hard to believe, but players apparently value communication. 

A fact that came back up in conversations around two players this week, Fallou Fall and Conrad Wallem. 

Damet had some insight into the conversations he’s been having with Fallou Fall this season, acknowledging that it’s frustrating to continue on the bench but giving some reason to be optimistic that the project will result in something better in the long term. 

“We really try to have a player driven environment where every day the environment is made for them to improve,” Damet said. “It’s about him pushing himself, and about him tying up some details. There is a different path on the tactical side, one of two things we want him to do on a more consistent basis when it comes to defending and when it comes to attacking. Then there is the human piece where I understand the emotion and frustration that can happen when you aren’t getting opportunities, but it’s a matter of feeling confident, feeling like he’s getting there, feeling that people believe in him, feeling that I believe in him and know he can do it.”

Fall is just one player that Damet expects to make a big impact, and it’s a similar conversation to the one he had with Conrad Wallem over the break after the wingback came to him frustrated with his play over the first half of the season. 

“We’re trying to create positive momentum for players to express themselves,” Damet said. “Conrad wasn’t happy with his performances; I was on the same page as him, so it was more of a reflection on “what’s the reason?” “How can we get you back to where you need to be, and even better?” I’m demanding a lot from him in his position; he’s also playing inverted, there are different things that we are asking of him, it’s why I liked having the break in the summer, it was a good opportunity for the guys to digest the information we have been giving them. And he’s come back better.”

Wallem went from a negative g+ player over the first half of the season to +0.22 over his last three appearances since the break.

A clear sign that things are moving in the right direction.

Looking ahead.

That individual approach is going to have to pay dividends with away days at San Jose and Sporting Kansas City coming up fast. It’s unlikely that Carlo Holse will be completely integrated at that point, and St. Louis has not had an option in the attack without Hartel’s chaos through this point in the season. It’s going to take something creative to open that door and keep the unbeaten streak alive. St. Louis is also well in view of a playoff spot, sitting 2 points clear of the final playoff spot with just 3 points separating them from a home playoff series. It's not the spot they expected to find themselves in, but they can hold on to found money if they are opportunistic enough.

The transfer window stays open until September 2nd, a day after most windows close throughout Europe, which could open up some bargains for MLS clubs as European teams become desperate to find solutions. 

That could also benefit a St. Louis CITY SC that now needs to add, but it will take some patience, and that’s a tough ask with the club already a surprise playoff contender in year one of the rebuild.