Since it's a bye week with nothing much going on, I'll toss this out there.
MLSnet's video program "Extra Time" has an interview with Sigi Schmid after the team's win. Mostly standard, boring stuff, but I thought his answer to a question about securing Montero's rights was interesting.
(Transcript is mine and unofficial, but it's close.)
"We have him on loan, so certainly the overseas interests still exist, those options are definitely still an option for him and we stand the chance of losing him next year. But, y’know, loan fee and salary and everything else, we were able to get it done. Sometimes you can’t always trust the salaries you see on MLS salaries ‘cause it doesn’t reflect loan fees and all that other stuff that goes into it. And, y’know, we were lucky that we were able to secure his services for this year, and that’s one thing in Seattle that we’re always trying to look for, is we’re trying to look for young, talented players that we can bring in whether it’s on loan or that we can get somehow because they haven’t quite hit the mainstream and hope to continue their development."
Sigi was his usual circumspect self, but he's sure not saying, "Montero is staying!!"
Also, while we're on the topic, this is something that's bothered me for a month now. I'm almost sure I remember the US Open Cup Final commentators talking about the fact that Seattle had actually and finally purchased Montero flat out. (According to them.) I hadn't heard that anywhere else, so I disregarded it. But did anyone else hear them say that and, if so, does anybody have the story on why they said it?