Wizards Sign Carlos Marinelli

From our friends at MLS Underground, the Kansas City Wizards have signed 25-year-old midfielder Carlos Marinelli from Argentina. He excelled as a teenager and has played for Middlesbrough and Torino, but has never completely lived up to the hype.

It has also been confirmed that Marinelli will not take up a DP spot - K.C. will need to save theirs for next year if they plan on keeping U.S. international forward Eddie Johnson around (He made $875,000 in '06 according to the Washington Post).

Galaxy Acquire Defender Thomas

The Galaxy have finally addressed their lack of depth in defense and have traded for Kansas City central defender Shavar Thomas. In exchange for the 26-year-old Jamaican international, Los Angeles will give up a conditional second round pick in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft.
Thomas should be familiar with his new partner in L.A.'s center of defense. He and Tyrone Marshall are both veterans with the Jamaican National Team - Thomas has earned 12 caps with the National Team.

Thomas has three goals and one assist in 91 career MLS games.

Conrad Stays At Home

After several European teams inquired about his services, Kansas City Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad has agreed to a four-year deal to stay in the MLS. "He's excited about the new direction in Kansas City," said agent Lyle Yorks. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Last month, the MLS rejected a transfer offer of $550,000 from Norwegian team Lillestrom FC and several Budesliga clubs also had interest in the 30-year-old, according to Yorks. "Over in Europe, with any club, every game matters. Being able to play in those circumstances would be just different than what it is here... It's just a matter of time before MLS can get there," Conrad said.

On the new ownership in Kansas City, Conrad said: "Everything they said they were going to do, they've done... I think we have a good team and I think we're going to do some damage this year."

Conrad has also found success with the U.S. Men's National Team - he scored the first goal in the 2-0 victory over Mexico in February and also saw time in two games in the 2006 World Cup.

RSL Stadium Deal Passes

Only a week removed from talks of relocating the team, Real Salt Lake's stadium deal has won final approval this afternoon from the Utah House. The $110 million stadium, to be located in Sandy, makes RSL the ninth team in the league to have or have plans for a soccer-specific stadium, a component that the MLS sees as crucial for a team to become profitable. Only D.C., Houston, Kansas City and New England lack a SSS.
Last week, RSL owner Dave Checketts had threatened to sell the team to a group of St. Louis investors if a deal could not be reached. Now, St. Louis will have to look elsewhere for their team.

As part of the deal, RSL would also team up with Real Madrid in establishing an elite soccer academy, probably in the capital. There's no word yet if Fabio Capello plans to make a yearly trip to the academy to belittle the children, but I'm sure he couldn't refuse such an opportunity.

KC: Goodbye Arrowhead, Hello... Arrowhead?

So much for the K.C. Wizards having to play on a high school field this year. According to various reports, the team appears set to stay at Arrowhead Stadium, at least for 2007. Scheduled renovations were to leave the stadium unaccessible, but a delay in the design plans means the Wizards should be able to stay put at least for a year.

In the meantime, they should focus their efforts on getting a soccer-specific stadium site, as Arrowhead will likely be out of commission to the Wiz for the '08 season. More likely, they will be breaking ground on a new training facility in Swope Park. Hopefully they can get a stadium built, because we'd hate to see the training facility go empty when the Wizards move to St. Louis.