MLS Transfer Talk

By: Laurie | December 19th, 2007

Why should the Europeans get all the fun? It’s the MLS silly season too, so here are a load of essentially unsubstantiated transfer rumors:

Polish striker Maciej Zurawski showed up in all the papers as being linked to the LA Galaxy, at least until GM Alexi Lalas said, “Maciej who?” Going back to check sources, we find that all news reports trace back to…let’s see… Ah. Zurawski’s agent, who might perhaps just be looking to get his client’s name in the news? Don’t expect to see Celtic’s “Magic” here any time soon.

And what was the deal on the Juan Sebastian Veron to DC rumor, widely reported in all the media but now proved false? Great story here. Seems that the story was first reported on the blog MLSRumors, a site even more dedicated to lack of substantiation than myself. From there it was picked up by an Italian site, and from that Italian site it went to Sports illustrated and the AP. Gotta love it. (Of course, this story is also coming from MLSRumors, so judge it accordingly and don’t blame us if it’s not true.) Or you can believe the alternate version. Your pick.

Last week there was a rumored three-way trade in the works. Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon would take his large salary and go to DC United. Bobby Boswell (or, according to one rumor, Christian Gomez) would head from DC to Dallas. And Carlos Ruiz, el Pescadito, the little flopping fish, would head to LA, presumably carting his large salary along with him. This obviously didn’t happen. The original rumor about the trade’s demise was that MLS had finally decided to play hardball with the Galaxy and would not allow three over-cap players (Beckham, Donovan and Ruiz) on one team. MLS says that’s not the case. (But you knew that when you saw “MLS” and “hardball with the Galaxy” in the same sentence, right?) So apparently the real story is that the parties just couldn’t come to terms.

But that didn’t keep Bobby Boswell from heading out the door at DC. He’s now enjoying life in a cowboy hat at Houston, in exchange for goalkeeper Zach Wells. (Ian Plenderleith offered up some thoughts on Brand Boswell and the transfer. I’m not sure I agree. What do you think?)

And for those who are wondering why DC was making eyes at another goalkeeper, Troy Perkins has been linked to a deal with Norwegian club Valerenga. Yanks Abroad says a deal is near, and Troy’s agent says they have an “agreement in principle.” Whatever that means.

The Carlos Ruiz to Galaxy rumors are still popping up, too. (Galaxy fan says NOOOOOOOOOO! HATE Ruiz. The whining, diving crybaby.)

Real Salt Lake striker Alecko Eskandarian has been on trial at Standard Liege in Belgium. It started as a one-week thing but duNord says it’s been extended. DuNord is never wrong on these things (the man is a footy info god), so I’m guessing it’s true. But it’s under the radar, because I’m not finding other sources at the moment. (If you have one, leave it in the comments. Thanks!)

And last but not least, let’s start a rumor of our own! According to some sources, Milan is getting tired of Ronaldo’s high cost + low performance, so he may be headed out the door. (That’s the glandular Brazilian Ronaldo, not the pretty Portuguese.) Who would take him? Well, let’s see. He’s rich, famous, and past his sell-by date. Sounds like Galaxy material to me!

This is far from all the current rumors, but it’s all I have time for today. But don’t worry, folks, we have months to cover them all, so keep checking back.