Matt Jansen. Lider Marmol. Do those names ring a bell?

Perhaps you're a recent fan. Jansen and Marmol were two players that Metro wanted to sign (the first in 2006, the second in 2008), but couldn't because other teams (Columbus, Chicago) held discovery claims.

And you know what? Fine. Those are the rules. If all teams abide by MLS's idiotic discovery structure, fine. We'll live with it.

The problem is, not all teams do.

According to Kristian Dyer in Metro newspaper, RBNY held the discovery claim on David Villa in 2014. But NYCFC negotiated with a deal with the player, "in direct violation of the rules that managed discovery players".

Normally, if a team wants a player whose discovery rights belong to another team, they have to pay up. Heck, we saw that this year with Montreal securing Didier Drogba from Chicago. In this case, however, MLS acted differently. Per Dyer, they gave RBNY a 24-hour window to sign Villa (clearly not enough time, even if Metro wanted him). After the period was up, his rights went to NYCFC. RBNY got a "rather small allocation" from the league itself, nothing from the prenatal blue team.

Talk about bullfeces.

We don't care about Villa; let him pout and dive for the blue team. We don't care about past cases like Jansen and Marmol. We care about fairness. Here, one team clearly circumvented league rules, and MLS not only let it slide, it encouraged it. And how do you think other teams feel? Why does Montreal have to pay for Drogba when NYCFC cheated -- and didn't pay for Villa?

It's time to grow up, MLS. Either get rid of the idiotic discovery claims, or make sure all teams follow the same rules.

We highly doubt anything changes...