T&T left back waits on new deal
Trinidad and Tobago’s Joevin Jones has become one of the most talked about defenders in American Major League Soccer at the moment.
According to a report on Seattle Sounders’ official website, “Joevin Jones’ performance since the beginning of the 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs has been nothing short of spectacular.”
The 25-year-old left back has five assists in his last eleven matches dating back to last season, including the game-winner in three of the last five Sounders wins prior to the two World Cup qualifiers for T&T in March.
“He’s the best left back in MLS,” said Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan. “He’s that good. Joevin is unpredictable. You see it in Jordan [Morris’] goal where [Jones] ‘megs the guy and passes it to [Nicolas Lodeiro].”
Jones, a former player with W Connection, has a contract that ends in December but already there are a few clubs eying the T&T player. It is understood that clubs from the German Bundesliga, Spanish La Liga, the Mexican First Division and also another unnamed club in France have been keeping track of the 25-year-old player.
At the moment though, Jones’ future is still undecided as Seattle are yet to hold any talks regarding his possible future at the club. There were some Seattle fans in Port of Spain last week who came out to support Jones and the T&T team against Panama and Mexico and they were asking questions about his future, saying they would love for him to remain with the club past the current season.
T&T’s ESPN analyst Shaka Hislop spoke about Jones’ versatility on the field of play.
“Joevin plays different roles for T&T and the Seattle Sounders, which speaks of his versatility. But his deeper position for Seattle doesn’t tell the story of his importance for T&T. I have said many times in the past, and continue to believe, that Joevin is easily our most important player,a responsibility he readily accepts,” Hislop told TTFA Media.
The former Newcastle and West Ham United custodian went on to describe Jones as the modern day left back.
“Joevin is a modern day left back- very good going forward and very solid defensively. As Seattle continues to develop and build on the MLS Cup triumph it’s important that they recognize that championship teams maintain that all-over-the-field balance,” Hislop added.
His countryman Kevin Molino, currently wearing Minnesota United colours, said he wouldn’t mind playing on the same club side as Jones at some point in his career.
“Joevin Jones is a very special player in my eyes with unbelievable talent. To me any club in the world will love to have a player like that in their team,” Molino said.
“Joevin is a very important part of the Seattle and the Trinidad and Tobago team. In a 1 v 1 situation both in defence and attack he can get a job done. As an attacking player he is so special. I wish one day we can play with the same club,” Molino continued.