Nashville Forced to Drop Deal to Take Gutman on Loan From Celtic
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Nashville is backing out of a deal to take American defender Andrew Gutman on a season-long loan from Scotland's Celtic.
Celtic said Thursday it had agreed to a 3 1/2-year contract with the left back, a 22-year-old who was a senior at Indiana and won the Hermann Trophy as the top men's college soccer player last year. Celtic and Nashville then announced the loan.
Nashville is in the second-tier United Soccer League Championship this season but will join top-tier Major League Soccer in 2020. Gutman had been a member of the Chicago Fire Academy, and Chicago Fire general manager Nelson Rodriguez was quoted as saying Gutman rejected an offer to sign with the Fire.
Nashville says in a statement Saturday that as an ''expansion member of MLS and in light of the fact that MLS does not support the transaction, Nashville will not be proceeding with the loan.''
