MLS

Mesut Özil hasn’t featured in an Arsenal game since March 7. The German midfielder has been shunned from the first team and was even left out of the Gunners’ Premier League and Europa League squads. With no playing time in sight, perhaps an Özil MLS move could happen in the near future.

According to an ESPN source, the 32-year-old said he is open to the idea of playing in the U.S. with an MLS club. His ludicrous £350,000-per-week contract with Arsenal ends in the summer, meaning a free transfer to MLS would be a real possibility.

Columbus Crew midfielder Darlington Nagbe confirmed on social media Friday that he tested positive for COVID-19.

His post on Twitter came one day after the Crew listed both Nagbe and fellow midfielder Pedro Santos as "medically not cleared to play" against the Seattle Sounders in the MLS Cup final on Saturday.

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Defending champions Seattle Sounders head into the MLS Cup on Saturday against hosts Columbus Crew seeking a third title in five years to rubber stamp their status as the current dominant force in the North American league.

Led by Uruguayan midfielder Nicolás Lodeiro and American forward Jordan Morris, who were finalists for the MVP award this year, Seattle are looking to join D.C. United, Houston Dynamo and LA Galaxy as the only MLS teams to win back-to-back titles.

Former England captain David Beckham and his ex-Los Angeles Galaxy team mates Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane were named on a list of 25 greatest Major League Soccer players on Wednesday as the competition celebrated its silver jubilee.

The 25 were selected from a list of 137 players by a panel of nearly 200 MLS experts from across North America, recognising those who achieved team and individual accolades and made an impact off the field.

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Sometimes, the stars align. You have the most beautiful day of your life followed by the administration of some public justice, and then you get to play a Minnesota sports team in the playoffs. That’s a recipe for greatness, and the Seattle Sounders’ Will Bruin followed it to a T.

On Nov. 23, Bruin and his wife Caitlin had their second baby. The 31-year-old forward was on Seattle’s bench the next day during the Sounders’ Round of 16 triumph over LAFC.  

The Columbus Crew put an end to New England’s fairy tale run to advance to the 2020 MLS Cup Final on Sunday, winning 1-0 behind Artur’s composed finish following a terrific team move. 

The victory ensured a third and final MLS Cup contested at MAPFRE Stadium — Columbus moves into a new stadium next summer — regardless of who wins Monday’s Western Conference final between Seattle and Minnesota. Columbus finished fourth in the overall table, whereas Seattle finished sixth and Minnesota ninth.

Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies has been named the 2020 Canadian Player of the Year, Canada Soccer said on Thursday, on the back of a remarkable season with the Bundesliga club.

The 20-year-old left back, who also claimed the honor in 2018, enjoyed a stellar year in which the German club won five trophies, including the Champions League. Davies earned the highest voting score from Canadian media and coaches, finishing just ahead of Christine Sinclair's record set in 2012, Canada Soccer said.

It was a massive week in U.S. soccer viewership with everyone taking time off for Thanksgiving and hunkering down to watch to incessant onslaught of the Premier League, the start of the MLS Cup playoffs and the business end of the Liga MX Apertura liguilla. 

In terms of English-language broadcasts, the highest-rated event between Nov. 23 and Nov. 29 was last Sunday’s dire 0-0 draw between Chelsea and Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. An audience of 744,000 tuned in on NBCSN to have their spirits crushed by José Mourinho.

Gregg Berhalter, you sly dog. 

18-year-old phenom Efraín Álvarez hasn’t filed a one-time switch from Mexico to the USMNT yet, but that hasn’t stopped Berhalter from luring Zlatan Ibrahimovic's cub into camp, showering him with praise and raising the pulse of Tri supporters everywhere. 

The shitshow that is the Eastern Conference portion of the MLS Cup playoffs reached a new peak on Sunday as the New England Revolution pulled off another stunning upset — this one over Orlando City — to advance to the conference finals.

New England needed to beat Montreal in the play-in round to even qualify for the 16-team format, but Bruce Arena’s men signaled their intentions last Tuesday with a 2-0 win over top-seeded Philadelphia Union, the Supporters’ Shield winner.