FC Cincinnati made a play to sign Fabian Johnson ahead of its inaugural MLS campaign, only to be rebuffed by the league, according to a report by Yahoo! Sports.
The 2014 World Cup standout for the U.S. men's national team is currently with Borussia Monchengladbach in his native Germany, and the point of contention was reportedly his presence on the MLS allocation list. The league has a preset list of players subjected to the allocation order, which is specifically designed to distribute "select U.S. men’s national team players, elite youth U.S. national team players, or former MLS players returning to MLS after joining a non-MLS club for a transfer fee greater than $500,000" evenly around the league.