Major Link Soccer: Investment Group behind San Diego NASL Expansion Emerges

MLS:

With the SuperDraft complete, the drafting portion of the offseason transitions into the draft-grading portion. In Will Parchman's grades, the Sounders 2017 class was given a decent B-.

Building an MLS roster requires a sound strategy amidst murky rules and regulations. Colin Etnire of Centerline Soccer has worked on bringing this strategy into graph form, which revealed that teams need to succeed in three salary phases: near the minimum salary threshold, just above DP salary threshold, and super sized DP deals.

NASL:

The rumblings around Southern California's future NASL involvement have been gaining steam, and this past week brought more credence to those rumors. Demba Ba and former teammate Eden Hazard are looking to invest some of their earnings in an NASL team based in San Diego, with Ba telling Eric Wynalda the group is finalizing an LOE with the league.

These expansion rumors come during an ominous time for the league, with teams struggling to stay afloat financially. As NASL officials work to ensure financial health for their present and future teams, Miami FC ownership hopes that the focus remains on the fans.

NWSL:

The Mane Land caught up with Orlando Pride manager Tom Sermanni following the NWSL draft to get his thoughts on the state of the league, including his argument that it is the most competitive league in the world.

United States:

Skipper Tab Ramos has named his training camp roster for the USMNT U-20 training camp in preparation for February's CONCACAF U-20 Championships.