Happy Wednesday folks. Yesterday was a wild one for MLS news, beginning with something so wild that I’m not even going to link it here because half of you are going to view this at work and that would not be good for you. Let’s just say the MLS Cup had a Magic City Monday and it was hilarious. Okay, to the news:
FC Cincinnati selects D.C. United’s Darren Mattocks in 2018 MLS Expansion Draft | Black & Red United
FC Cincinnati made Darren Mattocks their first pick in the 2018 MLS Expansion Draft. It will be interesting how they decide to pair him with Fanendo Adi up front. He scored 10 goals for D.C. United last year, but was not looking to be the backup behind Wayne Rooney.
FCC was very busy and throw a lot of Garber bucks into the air yesterday, acquiring Greg Garza from Atlanta United for $450K in combined allocation money, and Kendall Watson from the Vancouver Whitecaps for $825K in allocation money plus an international roster spot. They also drafted Kei Kamara 2nd in the Expansion Draft, only to trade him to the Colorado Rapids.
Zack Steffen has completed his transfer from Columbus Crew SC to Manchester City. He will leave the Black and Gold in July 2019, when the summer transfer window opens. He will most likely be loaned out...chances that Man City just sends him to the Bronx and New York City FC?
Champions League wrap: PSG advances; USMNT stars shine | NBC Sports
Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain, and Liverpool join Borussia Dortmund, Atlético Madrid, FC Barcelona, FC Porto, Schalke 04, Bayern Munich, Ajax, Manchester City, Real Madrid, AS Roma, Manchester United, and Juventus in the Round of 16. Only 1 spot remains for either Olympique Lyonnais or Shakhtar Donetsk.
LA Galaxy to re-sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic as Designated Player, hire Caleb Porter as coach | ESPNFC
Zlatan Ibrahimovic will return to the LA Galaxy as a Designated Player, prompting the question: who of Giovani Dos Santos, Jonathan Dos Santos, or Romain Alessandrini will not be? Also, the Galaxy are expected to hire Caleb Porter as their head coach, after they announced Dennis te Kloese as their new general manager.
Sergiño Dest Signs with Ajax | Stars & Stripes FC
We have a United States youth international on Ajax, as Sergiño Dest signs a pro contract with the Amsterdam club.
That’s what I got, but there was certainly a lot of news yesterday. Hit the comments to discuss it all.