Thursday Freedom Kicks: Edison Flores, Silly Season, and SheBelieves Cup

Soccer, go!

Good morning, dear friends! Given what today is the anniversary of, please be kind to yourself and to others today.

Anyways, to the links:

There’s going to be a lot riding on Edison Flores this year and this preseason. It is the first offseason and full preseason with Hernan Losada, and so hopefully the nutrition and offseason training has prepared the team for his system straight out of the gate. Flores has a couple years left on his contract with DCU, but he was signed before Losada and Lucy Rushton got here, so they’re not necessarily beholden to keep him in a way they might if they’d signed him. Regardless, I hope for great things from him this year.

USWNT to head to Carson, Frisco for SheBelieves Cup

The oddly-named SheBelieves Cup continues, and this year it will be out west. Expect a number of members of the Washington Spirit to be called for for this tournament, which will take place in late February.

The Crew to sign Ghanian winger Yaw Yeboah from Wisła Kraków

After being connected with D.C. United as well, it looks like the Columbus Crew have procured the services of Yaw Yeboah from the Polish league. With the number of wingers D.C. United has, this move wouldn’t have made of ton of sense unless someone was being shipped out, but we’ll still get to see what Yeboah can do for the Crew.

Who are David Blitzer and Arctos Sports, reported new owners of Real Salt Lake?

Real Salt Lake have finally dumped Dell Loy Hansen, with the new owners bringing a wealth of professional sports ownership experience. David Blitzer, an executive at Blackstone Group, is also an investor in English club Crystal Palace FC, German club FC Augsburg, Dutch club ADO Den Haag, and Belgian club Waasland-Beveren. He’s also an investor in the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils, as well as Major League Lacrosse.

Blitzer joined the 76ers ownership group at the same time as now-D.C. United managing partner Jason Levien (who has since sold his share in the basketball team).

MLS silly season in two acts:

There’s a lot of agents, players, management, and owners playing fast and loose with the media right now, so take every transfer rumor you hear with a grain of salt until the window closes.

Former D.C. United technical director Dane Murphy poaches another MLS player, after having signed Daryl Dike while he was at Barnsley.

This looks to be one of, if not the biggest transfer in USL history.

That’s all I have today; what’s up?