Those who seek sustenance on unfounded transfer gossip and rumor mill nonsense will now need to look beyond Christian Pulisic for nourishment — the 18-year-old American attacker has extended his deal with Borussia Dortmund until 2020.
In a move that’s set to massively boost the income of both Minnesota United and MLS, the club and league have announced a partnership with Minnesota-based retailer Target, the 38th-ranked company in the Fortune 500 list. Minnesota’s 2017 jersey will now feature the Target bullseye logo.
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.
In recent weeks the NWSL’s headlines have been all over the place, offering both fans and critics something to point at. For the supporters the 2017 draft took place and two new ownership groups have bought into the league. While critics will focus on the league players moving to Europe and how the 2016 champions could be sold and moved that easily.
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.
The folks over at Amazon's new show The Grand Tour have waded into a very contentious debate: is it "soccer" or "football"?
At their most recent show (which we should mention is nominally a car show) in Nashville, hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond (all Brits) tried to convince the studio audience that "football" is correct.
Nashville wasn't having any of it.
USMNT and Tijuana winger Paul Arriola scored a vicious volley for his club side on Friday in their 6-2 victory over Puebla. Tijuana had opened the 2017 Liga MX Clausura with a disappointing 2-0 loss to Morelia — the team in last in the relegation table. In that defeat, Arriola had been substituted at half time.
However, the 21-year-old has been tipped to have a breakout 2017 and his goal against Puebla was evidence of his talent. With the scores level at 2-2 in the 61st minute, Arriola struck this wicked volley to put his side ahead for good.
If 2016 was an up-and-down year, full of injuries, player returns and off-field disturbances, then 2017 may very well be about building a new direction for the NWSL’s Seattle Reign.
Former 2014 league MVP Kim Little was transferred to Arsenal, captain Keelin Winters has retired and there are still questions about Hope Solo’s future. Now the club has announced that Kendall Fletcher, a defensive starter, will not return to the team for the upcoming season.