{"id":409873,"date":"2026-01-15T01:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T01:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/409873\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T01:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T01:38:08","slug":"top-mls-defender-blackmon-misses-start-of-vancouver-preseason-amid-contract-dispute-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/409873\/","title":{"rendered":"Top MLS defender Blackmon misses start of Vancouver preseason amid contract dispute: Sources"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img alt=\"Vancouver Whitecaps defender Tristan Blackmon makes a tackle\" fetchpriority=\"high\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/USATSI_27757294-1024x683.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"responsive\" class=\"image-next-root\" style=\"border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0;border:none;margin:auto;display:block;width:0;height:0;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;min-height:100%;max-height:100%;object-fit:cover\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Article_ImageCaptionCredit__mkXi_ article-image-caption-credit Typography_body1__xfKuc inherit Typography_base__jzSqr\"> Nathan Ray Seebeck \/ Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Reigning MLS Defender of the Year Tristan Blackmon has not reported to the Vancouver Whitecaps as of Wednesday for the start of preseason as he seeks an improved contract, sources briefed on the situation tell The Athletic. All players were due at the facility on Wednesday morning for entrance medicals to start preparations for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n<p>Blackmon is currently under contract through 2027 and no new agreement between the two sides is imminent, sources say. Inter Miami made a bid worth around $3 million to acquire Blackmon last week, but the Whitecaps insist they don\u2019t want to move the player \u2013 rather, they want to extend his stay.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe firmly reject reports suggesting that we are close to completing the transfer of any of our players,\u201d Whitecaps CEO Axel Schuster told\u00a0The Athletic\u00a0last week. \u201cThe situation is, in fact, the exact opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blackmon was the 37th highest-paid player listed as a center back by the MLS Players Association last year, with a guaranteed compensation of $800,000. Whitecaps teammate Mathias Laborda was ahead of him, among others. The 29-year-old center back was one of the key driving forces behind Vancouver\u2019s stellar 2025 season, which saw the club win the Canadian Championship while finishing runner-up in MLS Cup and the Concacaf Champions Cup \u2013 far and away the team\u2019s best season as an MLS franchise.<\/p>\n<p>Blackmon has made 141 appearances for the Whitecaps since arriving from LAFC in 2022\u00a0and earned his first two caps with the U.S. men\u2019s national team this past fall.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been a busy winter for Vancouver, which has already transferred Ali Ahmed to Norwich City and traded Jayden Nelson to Austin FC. The club remains in contract talks with Blackmon and star midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, whose 2026 option was exercised after last season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nathan Ray Seebeck \/ Imagn Images Reigning MLS Defender of the Year Tristan Blackmon has not reported to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[49,48,567,14705,573,561,82,133140,16534],"class_list":["post-409873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-inter-miami-cf","tag-los-angeles-fc","tag-mls","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-us-mens-national-team","tag-vancouver-whitecaps-fc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}