D.C. United close to Paul Arriola trade, NWSL CBA update, and more: Freedom Kicks for 1/21/2022

Good morning! We have lots of big news, including D.C. United potentially trading Paul Arriola, the latest on the NWSL CBA talks, and a big USMNT transfer rumor. Let’s roll right into it:

Reports: D.C. United, FC Dallas close in on Paul Arriola deal | Black and Red United
Paul Arriola to FC Dallas is getting closer to happening, though that is not to say it’s done yet. For one thing, Arriola is disputing some of the information that’s going around, and if (for example) Club América made four bids, movement between United and another club is probably not going to stop them from making a fifth. We’ll see how it plays out.

Report: FC Dallas acquires Paul Arriola in record-breaking GAM trade | Big D Soccer
Here’s the perspective from Dallas, which notes that they’re already pursuing a big international transfer as well, making the Arriola move only one of the issues on the table from their end.

A little more, from yours truly:

In other words, if you want to be up to the minute on everything that’s going on with this particular saga, today’s probably a big day to sequester yourself with a computer.

Moving over to the Washington Spirit side, first up we have Tori Huster coming to you in podcast form:

The NWSL’s toxic dispute between a man who failed and the woman who should replace him | Washington Post
Sally Jenkins simply went off on Steve Baldwin and the NWSL’s power structure as a whole. I don’t agree with one important aspect of this piece — that opening line frames the entire idea of doing right by the players as being achievable simply through good business practices, when “good business practices” often result in a lack of humane action, which is exactly what NWSL is dealing with — but I do think it captures the righteous anger that fans and players have right now in a way that few people would be able to.

NWSL players won’t report to clubs without CBA in place: Sources | The Athletic
The ongoing CBA talks between the players and owners have hit a major inflection point, with players apparently deciding that they aren’t going to report to preseason camp if the CBA doesn’t get wrapped up in just 10 days. Meg Linehan reports here that free agency and the rule changes that it would require are sticking points, while I have heard from a source that there’s still a disagreement over the NWSL minimum salary.

Here’s hoping the league can see what they’ve got (the best pool of woso players in the world) and, frankly, just take the W.

Let’s check in on USMNT and former Richmond Kickers goalkeeper Matt Turner:

I’m doing the calculations here, and USMNT + Guy Leaving MLS For Premier League + Arsenal feels like it will add up to non-stop blizzard of tweets on the timeline. I’m sure everyone will take up reasonable positions and discuss them thoughtfu- haha yeah never mind, everyone’s gonna go nuts.

Arsenal eye USMNT, New England Revolution keeper Matt Turner — sources | ESPN
More details on the situation here.

Going back to the podcasting world, our own André Carlisle’s podcast Diaspora United is back with a new episode:

Gotham FC announces 2 year contract for superstar Margaret Purce | Jersey Sporting News
Gotham FC has retained NWSL MVP candidate Midge Purce for the next two years, which...yeah, if you’re a soccer team, you’d want to sign Midge Purce to a contract.

Some big MLS news, and it’s not fun:

Diego Valeri is the only player in MLS history who I think got into the Marco Etcheverry territory in terms of being a club icon. Everyone’s got their favorites, but Valeri took it to another level that no one else in modern-day MLS has.

That’s all I’ve got. This is me today:

Enjoy your frigid Friday!