Incoming Toronto FC general manager Tim Bezbatchenko suggests the term 'League Designated Player' does not exist in Major League Soccer.
TFC head coach Ryan Nelsen continues to refer to the term whenever he is asked about the decision to trade Argentine striker Maximiliano Urruti who was then traded to Portland Timbers after just two outings with the Canadian club.
Nelsen suggests Urruti was the type of player MLS had signed to bring to the competition before slotting him in the TFC squad but Bezbatchenko, formerly senior director of player relations and competition at MLS, says that is not the case.
"Now there's no such thing as a league DP. What he (Nelsen) is referring to is that sort of subsidy. But that's not unlike a lot of other players in the league," he told the Canadian Press.
"There's no such thing as the league going finding players and saying 'Here, this is your guy, this is a league DP and you have to play them.' That does not exist.
"Now what he's referring to is just sort of the subsidy and then the involvement from the league office to acquire him and help acquire him was higher with these players."
On Saturday, Nelsen had addressed a fans question regarding the Urruti transfer: "So Urruti was a league DP where a league fund kind of buys this player. So then he's brought in to us on a very high salary cap number at the age of 21.
"So it's a high number on your salary cap that's going to be sitting on your bench, it's a young player that we have to develop for two to three years and it's also a league DP as well."
