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The pre-season for any sport is an exciting time, full of anxiety and hope.

Photo: Paul Rudderow

Philadelphia Union

The silly season got sillier for the Philadelphia Union over the weekend. Following word from England that Sebastien Le Toux reportedly did not sufficiently impress while on trial with Bolton, and the news that Danny Mwanga is training for two weeks with Aston Villa, the Union transfer rumor well still wasn't dry.

Silly season has bitten the Philadelphia Union hard, as the international transfer window is set to close in three days. After apparently shrugging off a Sebastien Le Toux transfer to Bolton Wanderers, the Union are set to lose team captain Faryd Mondragon.

The 40-year-old is on his way back to Colombia, according to Deportivo Cali's Vice President.

Silly season continues to go on around the world, and today Sporting KC was named in the silliness. Sky Sports is reporting that the "Kansas City Wizards" are interested in Scottish international striker, Kris Boyd. The 28 year old striker was most recently with Eskisehirsqor in Turkey, where he recently had his contract canceled.

As Tony Fernandes appears the only Premier League chairman willing to put the golden nib of his fountain pen to his cheque book, newspapers and sports channels alike struggle to satisfy the footballing publics insatiable appetite for transfer talk. This has resulted in the arrival of silly season appearing to be unavoidably upon us with rumours of Andy Carroll returning to Newcastle and Didier Drogba moving to China.

The battle between the two GQs resumes

Transfer windows are always silly season but they pale in comparison to the sort of collective psychosis and paranoia engendered by El Clasico.

The hysteria before tomorrow's Copa De Rey semi-final first leg has gems like if Mourinho plays Pepe in the midfield then Real has a winning record in the Clasicos.

Get Real Everyone knows that the transfer window is silly season in football, with clubs overvaluing their players, agents hawking out their stars to all and sundry, and the tabloid newspapers sticking a pin in a map and guessing which players are going left, right and centre. The People newspaper has excelled itself this morning, [.

Wayne Rooney isn't going anywhere from the swamp

Wayne Rooney on Twitter:

" The independent are talking absolute rubbish my future is with Manchester United and the club and I are totally commited to each other."

This was in response to a James Lawton's article which speculated Rooney's relationship with Sir Alex had suffered a complete breakdown and there was talk he was to be sold this January.

As we know the transfer window is open and that means its silly season time again.
Arsenal will be linked with every Tom, Dick and Harry from the Tombs of the Nobles to Outer 'order' Mongolia.
Some of the rumours will make you laugh, others you can take more seriously.
Lukas Podolski is a player that Arsene Wenger is supposedly looking at.

Happy New Year! We hope all of you had a great holiday season and are getting even more excited for the 2012 Sounders Season.

The "Silly Season" is now in full swing and the end of 2011 was just heating up with all kinds of rumors and new signings for the Sounders and we think that's just the beginning.

Happy New Year! We hope all of you had a great holiday season and are getting even more excited for the 2012 Sounders Season.

The "Silly Season" is now in full swing and the end of 2011 was just heating up with all kinds of rumors and new signings for the Sounders and we think that's just the beginning.

Since it is now officially Saturday a.m. here and aside from one holiday stock-up at the market my tomorrow is reserved for general lazing about, let's dispense with as-of-yet unnamed goodie celebration day six.These silly season sagas often take sharp turns, and as such, this holiday nibble is really the goodie that wasn't.

It's after midnight where I am, so consider yourselves served again.Truth be told, though, I may be forced into giving you a double goodie on this day. I've got one you're gonna enjoy with an oven timer threatening to ding on me.Also, we need someone to come up with a proper name for our winter silly season holiday, as "Festivus" is taken.

I may not have been the first journalist to coin the term "Silly Season" as it relates to soccer's global transfer market. But I'd like to think I help add it to the current domestic soccer lexicon, making liberal use of the term as far back as five years ago.

Either way, here we are.

I have decided (or realized, which ever came first) that I am over-tired and burnt. I need a little breather, so I'm gonna be scarce this week. It's almost silly season again and I need my strength, don't want to be caught napping then.Do not fear: Will has a big ol' MLS series planned and I still have a few promised posts that I keep forgetting to spring on you after I'm recharged - including

Philadelphia Union

This Vancouver blog attributes Nizar Khalfan's inability to become a regular starter with the Whitecaps to being away on international duty and being on the outs with then head coach Tommy Soehn. "Frankly, I think the Whitecaps should have kept him, and my feeling is the loss of the Vancouver Whitecaps is the Philadelphia Union's gain.

Sheesh. A couple more years and my silly season work will precede Christmas music at the mall. In any event, I am here to drop a couple of quick tidbits, just to offer some needed clarity...First off, allow me to clarify that the F-Word interest recently revealed by Chris Wondolowski is not current. In fact, the Kakkerlakken had a bid for the San Jose ace rejected last winter.

The international break heralds a mini 'silly season' as Newcastle United are reported to be interested in no less than 5 new players. With January fast approaching and no Premier League football for two weeks, it's inevitable that the names of potential targets will be bandied about. Our impressive start to the season and the [.

The silly season seems to have started a little earlier this year, and there are numerous Arsenal rumours going around even though there are still two months until the mid-season transfer window. The first bit of official Arsenal transfer news is that the very promising American international Brek Shea has been booked in to train [.

It's getting close to silly season again, the time for agents to make their money by getting players deals around the world. The rumors have started for potential incoming players this year. Rumors out of Sweden today are that Sporting KC and expansion side, Montreal, have shown interest in Swedish forward Jeffrey Aubynn currently with Malmo FF.

We're almost, almost there. Until the playoffs come bounding back out of the closet to barrel us over with the kind of dramatic flair only the postseason can mete out, we're entered in the silly season. A week of conjecture, endlessly drab if-then scenarios and all the coach speak you can stomach. (You wanna hear "It is what it is?

Comolli Scouting Dortmund Talent

Damien Comolli has been spotted at several of Bundesliga outfit Borussia Dortmund's recent games, where he is believed to be running the rule over their starlet Mario Götze, among others. Comolli's most recent visit was just last Saturday, where he witnessed the home side put four past the lowly Augsburg, including one from 19-year-old Götze.

I have been told by someone who'd know that Blackburn have not ruled out coming back to actually complete a deal for George John in January. It's just my hunch, but I still think "Mr. Manager" could soon be looking for a job at the banana stand - and that's why this folded. Or maybe I've just spent too many consecutive days with my head in the silly season and I'm dizzy.

Some observations for today and from the weekend:

• Silly season:

Sevilla bound?

» Will Deuce Fly the Coop? Sky Sports says La Liga's Sevilla is interested in US national Clint Dempsey.

» Having his cake and eating it too?

Robbie Keane is set to become a member of the Galaxy. (Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Galaxy have reportedly agreed to purchase Robbie Keane's contract from Tottenham for a reported £3 million, but the signing is not yet official. The summer transfer window closed on Sunday at 11:59 p.m., but Galaxy president Tom Payne said on Twitter that an announcement may come on Monday.

Full slate of games in Major League Soccer and WPS. Before we get our regular look at attendance, here are a couple of other business stories from the weekend. One quick note. Special thanks to the folks at World Football Daily and American Soccer Show for having me on in the last couple of days to talk about some of the big business issues in American soccer.

Written by Camberwell Gooner

The final weekend before the Premier League kicks off is over, and all that separates us from competitive football is five long days of work (or daytime TV, depending on your current situation). We're coming to the end of the Worst Pre-Season Ever (copyright), our squad is paper-thin with no real sign of reinforcements, and Rooney is not just a big-mouthed, balding granny shagger, he also believes that coming back from 2-0 down represents a "footballing lesson".

Sometimes in football it's no contradiction To say that fact is stranger than fiction, For no author could have ever prophesised The summer's events down on Trentside. No wonder they call it silly season As events unfold without rhyme nor reason [...]

Sorry for the little delay there in blogging. I've been busier than a one-eyed cat watching two mouse holes lately. Sometimes that work thing gets in the way of blogging. Anyway, Brenton is handling the Emirates Cup stuff for the moment, while I talk about the silly season.

I guess we need to start off at the top, with some Cesc news.

The silly season is still going on and more news is coming out with regards to Sporting KC players. While Shavar Thomas was on trial with Portsmouth, and Stephane Auvray looks to be on his way out of KC, other news is coming out. First is news that Sporting KC's lone Generation Adidas player, Teal Bunbury, has been attracting interest abroad still.

Peter Nowak spent the last week advising John Hackworth and Rob Vartughian through a walkie-talkie. Juan Diego Gonzalez saw minutes against Barclays Premier League side Everton FC and reigning Copa Del Rey winners / destroyers Real Madrid - no goals were allowed while he was on the pitch. Marc Zumoff sat in with Bob Rigby on a Union telecast.

Domestic football will again be here before we all know it. Thrust in the middle of the Silly Season, it behooves me to add to the silliness and put out some fun queries to ponder and pontificate upon.
Question: Can Barcelona's empire be toppled?

Answer: Depends.

It's the official start of the silly season in MLS as the transfer window officially opened up today. However, that hasn't stopped teams from announcing all sorts of trades and signings in preparation for the opening of the summer transfer window. There's been no official announcements from the Seattle Sounders, but trialists have been coming through camp and there are plenty of rumors floating around.

Ah it's silly season...when rumors of Wayne Rooney heading to Barcelona, Manchester City signing every player from Barcelona and AS Roma signing all the Americans run rampant.

Let's sell some papers....AND it came true!

First, stop what you're doing. If you haven't read our piece from last transfer season about how most US (and pretty much any nation's) transfer rumors are really just a stupid spiral of creating clicks from your computer to some failing online newspaper, be sure to do that.

Boing Boing Bingham Preseason is back, and that means it the silly season of friendlies. Liverpool v Guandong, Arsenal v Malaysia and West Brom travelling all the way to America to play three games. Roy Hodgson might not be all too impressed by the trip either if his side continue to concede mental goals like [.

There are a dizzying number of rumors and reports out there to sort through at the moment, as well as some semi-news from the preseason tour in Asia. And while it's somewhat tiresome to keep up with all the rumors, I'll do my best to sort through some of the bigger news items of the last couple of days.

During the summer, when time is often measured in the latest player transfer rumours rather than in minutes passed, we have become acclimated to the concept of a player having his head "turned" and wanting to leave his current club of employ. In the English Premiership, Arsenal have endured seemingly countless summers of speculation on when club captain Cesc Fabregas will leave for Spain in a genetic quest to have his DNA properly aligned at the Camp Nou.

Schalke may be pricing Blackburn Rovers out of the Jermaine Jones sweepstakes.

According to the Lancashire Telegraph, Schalke's asking price of £10 million for a full transfer of the U.S. international midfielder is too high for Blackburn, and the club is resigned to moving on without him.

Things are getting busy for those who try to track Seattle Sounders transfer rumors. Most of the names attached are quite pricey, gunning for that final Designated Player slot, or at least a significant cap hit augmented with Allocation Dollars. The majority of players connected are of the attacking variety, which would fit a team need, but there of course is a keeper and even a centerback connected.

The middle of the summer always brings about the "silly season", that time of year when, with parliament sunning itself on beaches or relaxing on their country estates, news editors find themselves having to resort to a different angle in their reporting of the news. This extends to the sports pages as well, particularly in years with an odd number when there is no distraction in the form of a World Cup finals or a European Championship finals.