Ukrainian international Roman Zozulya was set to move to Madrid and become a much-needed scoring threat for a struggling Rayo Vallecano side. 

Rayo reached a deadline-day loan deal with Real Betis and was hoping to count with Zozulya in its battle against relegation in the Spanish second division. However, instead of a savior’s welcome, Zozulya was received with protests by fans when he arrived in Vallecas.

Now, why would fans of a struggling second division club protest against the arrival of an international-level player?

The January transfer deadline window passed without the need for everyone to lose their collective minds over a deal like Karim Benzema to Burnley or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to PSG, Manchester City, Arsenal or any of the other clubs he really likes.

Oguchi Onyewu signed for the Philadelphia Union on Monday, bringing back a smorgasbord of painful nostalgia. I loved Onyewu, he proudly flew the flag for American soccer players abroad for a number of years, but he was also at the center of a couple unpleasant memories during a very formative time in my life. 

If all of the Seattle Reign’s departures and questions this offseason left anyone thinking that perhaps they would settle for a rebuilding season, those assumptions have been proven incorrect. Manager Laura Harvey has kept Seattle in the hunt for titles ever since her arrival, and 2017 will be no different. On Monday, the club’s latest move confirmed their desire to win now. 

Perhaps watching fellow Scandinavian prodigy Martin Odegaard struggle for minutes at Real Madrid while youngsters like Christian Pulisic, Ousmane Dembele and Emre Mor flourished at Borussia Dortmund was all 17-year-old Swedish phenom Alexander Isak needed to see. Sweden’s youngest ever goalscorer has opted to join BVB over Real Madrid for a fee of €10 million.

A week out from the 2017 draft and still waiting for the upcoming season’s schedule to be released, clubs were back to work building their squads. Here is a look at some of the player movements and signings over the past few days, as well as the announcement of a big pre-season tournament. 

Seattle Reign

Re-signed defender Merritt Mathias 

Re-signed forward Kiersten Dallstream

The MLS SuperDraft, which began last Friday and was completed on Tuesday (it didn't continue through the weekend, although at times it felt like it was going to), contains two elements that are completely wrongheaded.

Ever since the LA Galaxy acquired the rights to USMNT midfielder Jermaine Jones in exchange for a 2017 1st Round MLS SuperDraft pick, it’s been something of a foregone conclusion that the former Colorado Rapids player would sign with the club. On Wednesday, the Galaxy used targeted allocation money to officially sign the 35-year-old. 

Heather O'Reilly has made the move. The star midfielder, who scored 47 goals in 231 appearances for the USWNT, signed with Arsenal Ladies. Te move was officially announced by Arsenal on Wednesday.

"Having come over to Arsenal last year to train, I was very impressed with the club. The facilities are world class and they have a tradition of excellence at the club that I wanted to be a part of, I’m very happy to be here,” O’Reilly said.

We are delighted to announce there is a person in the world named Kevin Lasagna. 

Kevin Lasagna is an Italian striker recently signed by Udinese (though he will stay on loan at his current club, Serie B side Carpi, for the rest of the season), whose name is, again, Kevin Lasagna.