ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Tim Parker's time with St. Louis City SC came to an end over the weekend, with City SC trading away Parker and general allocation money (GAM) to the New England Revolution in exchange for center back Henry Kessler.
The trade marks an end to a memorable tenure for Parker, who scored the first goal in City SC history, was a part of the MLS All Star Team in 2023 and finished runner up for 2023 MLS Defender of the Year.
City SC Sporting Director Lutz Pfannenstiel joined Sports On A Sunday Morning on KMOX to discuss the trade of Parker and says that the trade was because the club and Parker's camp weren't able to get anywhere close to reaching a agreement on a new contract for Parker.
"With six months left on the contract, we simply could not find an agreement on the contract terms," said Pfannenstiel. "Having the option to bring in Kessler, who is a young center back who played for the United States before and has higher potential, and has a much longer contract, it was one of those things where we have to look at all the good and the bad and the decision was made to we let Parker go without taking away anything he did for the club."
Pfannenstiel says trading away Parker, who was a leader for the club on and off the pitch, was a tough decision.
"It's part of the professional sports business that you have to let people go who are brilliant and let people go who played a big part in the short history of this club," said Pfannenstiel. "It was definitely very emotional for everybody."
"I'm not a robot, even though I'm German, I'm still a human being."
Pfannenstiel says Kessler was a player who he wanted to go after the moment he joined the club in 2020, and the opportunity to acquire him from the Revolution came as a surprise to Pfannenstiel.
"It was not something that was planned for a long time," said Pfannenstiel. "We had a meeting in Columbus, we sat down with New England and things slowly developed on a very very short term there."
"He's young, tall, very good in the air, and really really good building up from behind. He's a really good football player."