The Cyle Larin transfer drama finally came to a conclusion on Tuesday. Orlando City agreed to terms with Turkish giant Besiktas for the Canadian striker to move overseas, ending a weeks-long standoff between the involved parties, but not without some harsh comments from the Florida club.
Dismayed over Virgil van Dijk’s decision to join Liverpool, Manchester City have gone and broken their own club transfer record (the $77 million paid to Wolfsburg for Kevin De Bruyne in 2015) by signing La Liga’s most promising young defender, 23-year-old center back Aymeric Laporte, from Athletic Bilbao for $80 million.
After weeks of speculation linking Mexican international Miguel Layun with La Liga side Real Betis — where international compatriot Andres Guardado currently plays — derby rival Sevilla has announced the capture of the 29-year-old right back on loan with an option to buy in the summer, pending a medical scheduled for Tuesday.
As usual, every other Premier League club is playing for second in the transfer market, behind the big spenders at Manchester City. The Citizens made the signing of the January window Saturday when they picked up Mix Diskerud — a.k.a. Nordic Messi, a.k.a. Which One Is Mix Diskerud And Which One Is Brek Shea Again — from New York City FC.
Cubo Torres has officially ended his MLS odyssey and returned to Mexico. The Mexico international scored 36 goals in 97 appearances for Chivas USA ('member them?) and the Houston Dynamo. He's headed to Pumas, currently at the top of the Clausura table.
Ballou Tabla is making history as the first academy player from the Montreal Impact to make a move to Europe. The 18-year-old attacking midfielder completed a transfer to Barcelona on Thursday. He’ll join Barcelona B.
What an incredibly strange career trajectory Lassana Diarra has had.
Just days after rediscovering his love for soccer and putting his professional career back in motion, Freddy Adu has popped up in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Adu is a trialist with USL expansion club the Las Vegas Lights.
The writing has been on the wall for Javier Mascherano at Barcelona for some time, and now it's official: Barcelona announced Tuesday that Mascherano would be leaving the club, with a ceremony planned for Wednesday. Mascherano has been at Barcelona for seven and a half seasons and has made more than 300 appearances.
Lost in the Alexis Sanchez-Henrikh Mkhitaryan-Arsenal-Manchester United shuffle was the fact that Manchester City made the best personnel move of the day, locking up Belgian midfielder Kevin de Bruyne until at least 2023. The club announced de Bruyne's extension literally minutes after Arsenal and Manchester United dropped their big news.
GET EXCITED! @DeBruyneKev has today signed a new contract at the Club!