DeAndre Yedlin almost certainly not going on trial at Liverpool

The internet is buzzing with rumors that Liverpool is interested in our very own DeAndre Yedlin. Do a simple search and you'll see countless articles repeating the rumor, very few of which give much context. One thing virtually all of them have in common: They cite an article in the notoriously flimsy Metro. (I suppose I should link it here, but I won't ask you to click through.)

There are going to be a lot of rumors about Yedlin. There's no way we can track them all. But this one seems to have reached critical mass and it seems like a good idea to put it into context.

The first thing that should be pointed out is that the story says Liverpool "could invite" Yedlin for a trial. That's entirely possible; the Sounders "could invite" Neymar for trial, I suppose. That does not mean Yedlin is actually going to accept, of course.

The chances of Yedlin accepting a trial or the Sounders agreeing to send him on one in the middle of their season in which they are making a run at the Supporters' Shield is also highly unlikely. Trials are the kinds of things reserved for offseasons or for relatively unknown commodities. There's virtually no reason for the Sounders or Yedlin to risk injury on something like this unless money is already on the table.

There's also the somewhat significant issue of obtaining a work permit. Yedlin has not played even close to 75 percent of the United States' competitive games over the past year, and would need to be granted an exception. While that's certainly possible, it is a complication to keep in mind..

The final cause for skepticism is that the Metro article cites "reports in America" as the source of these rumors. Unless these reports are very well hidden, they don't exist either on Twitter or Google.

Might Liverpool have interested in Yedlin? Sure. Would they be in a position to pay whatever the Sounders deem fair? Yes. Could Yedlin potentially help them? That seems plausible. But this particular rumor seems to be completely fabricated. It's probably best to move along.