Internet declares Sounders have signed a Gold Cup star

As we should all know by now, the closing of the MLS transfer window is not an entirely newsworthy event. The only thing that needed to have happened by 2 p.m. on Thursday was for the paperwork to have been started. Out of contract players can still be signed until Sept. 16 and moves will likely still be announced in the coming hours and days.

But, that hasn't stopped rumors from flying fast and furious.

The most notable for the Seattle Sounders was that they were trying to sign Panama defender Roman Torres. How was he linked to the Sounders, you ask? The internet!

The first clue was this tweet from a player agency:

Update: We're working hard with @SoundersFC to get one of #GoldCup2015 's best defenders to Seattle.

— Global Premier Mgmt (@GlobalPremMgmt) August 6, 2015

That got the Sounders-sleuths working, scanning Gold Cup rosters and trying to connect dots. Then this magically appeared on Wikipedia:

There's no sourcing on it, the edit was made in Lynwood, Wash. and there's seemingly no other confirmation. And, for what it's worth, Transfermrkt.com doesn't even list Global Sports Management as Torres' agency.

Maybe Torres really was the player the Sounders were trying to sign. Maybe they even will get him signed. But nothing here is anything approaching hard evidence, and since he's under contract an announcement would likely be coming soon.

Putting aside any skepticism about the reporting, though, Torres would be an intriguing signing. He's a bit of a monster, standing 6-foot-2 and weighing in at 182 pounds. He was also a key reason why Panama made it through the whole tournament without losing a match and he's already scored three goals for Colombian power Millonarios in about half of a season.

The other deal the Sounders were rumored to be trying to close was for Nelson Valdez, something we first reported and has since been confirmed by the foreign press and the fact that he was being picked up at the airport by Garth Lagerwey. It's entirely possible that the deal has fallen through, but more likely the Sounders are just taking their time announcing it since he's out of contract.

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MOAR UPDATES: So, this is really starting to get interesting as it's starting to look as though Torres has multiple agents. First, he's not in the Millonarios lineup tonight:

Esta es nuestra nómina para enfrentar hoy a Patriotas. ¡Vamos Millonarios! #DaleMillos pic.twitter.com/ADEKLfMGFo

— Millonarios FC (@MillosFCoficial) August 6, 2015

And we also have a congratulatory tweet from former Panama teammate and former Sounders trialist Roberto Brown:

Roman Torres al Seattle Sounders!! Felicidades hermano @romantorres05 iré a tu presentación

— RobertoBrown77 (@robertobrown77) August 6, 2015

Hold on to your butts.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Now a paper in Panama is reporting Torres-to-Sounders as being close to done and that there would be a minimal transfer fee. Also says an announcement should come soon.

UPDATE: And just like that, the rumor died.

I just got off the phone with Luis Felipe Posso who is Romans agent and he has told me there is no talks with Seattle Sounders at this time

— Niko Moreno (@ELROLONW) August 6, 2015