Carli Lloyd has announced that she will join Manchester City Women’s Football Club on a short-term deal that could run as long as June 1, 2017. The captain of the USWNT will reportedly join the English club after participating in the SheBelieves Cup from March 1-7.
When we read about things like allocation lists, sums of targeted and general allocation money and the processes of discovery and re-entry in MLS, we usually just smile, nod our heads in feigned understanding, and murmur things like “But of course.” In truth, it’s all terribly confusing and best left to the poor sporting directors and player personnel managers who need to assemble an entire roster for $3.845 million.
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?
Well, it was because of stuff like this:
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.
Deadline day is crazy! Lots of teams have needs, and this is the last day to fill them. Teams need wingers, defensive midfielders, inverted fullbacks, false 9's, trequartistas, deep-lying playmakers, target strikers and many more types of soccer players.
One team, though, just needs something to get leaves off their field. Barton Rovers FC have filled a major squad need on deadline day by going to the store and buying a rake.
Among the big-name signings of Frank Lampard, David Villa and Andrea Pirlo, New York City FC owners, the Abu Dhabi United subsidiary City Football Group, were also keen to add one of America’s own. They got that in the form of USMNT midfielder Mix Diskerud, but he didn't come cheaply.
China has big plans for 2017. The Chinese Football Association gathered in Beijing to go over financial details in hopes of transforming the country into a soccer powerhouse. President Xi Jinping is the country’s number one soccer fan and intends to have China perform in future World Cups, an achievement they've only managed once.
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.