Photo: Courtesy of FIFA

Philadelphia Union

A new article from Kerith Gabriel on Friday morning about a Gabriel Gomez to the Philadelphia Union deal is headlined “Panama’s Gomez signs with Union” but the copy says “According to sources, the contract has been approved by Major League Soccer and awaits Gomez’ signature before the Union can schedule an announcement, which can come as early as next week.” Gabriel says that officials from both the Union and Gomez’ current/last club Indios Ciudad Juárez have not responded to requests for comments on the reported deal.

Peter Nowak said in a press conference on Thursday that it was unlikely the Union would sign another Home Grown Player this season because of roster space limitations. “The best position to be in is to graduate one every year, but we have limited resources to do that,” Nowak said. “We want to make sure the [academy] guys get our values and principles and make sure what the Philadelphia Union is all about sooner rather than later.”

Nowak said of this week’s Home Grown signing Jimmy McLaughlin, “We’re all excited about the game that Jimmy can play. He’s good and understands the game both ways…He’s a very good dribbler and he’s not afraid to take players on. I think from a tactical part, he’s very much ahead.” Speaking of McLaughlin’s minutes against Everton and Real Madrid, he added, “He’s not afraid to play against the big boys.”

Grant Wahl ranks the Union the eighth most ambitious team in MLS. “This is a team that’s going places.”

This terribly written mock draft has the Union taking Indiana center back Tommy Meyer in the first round.

The Union sends its fans a happy holidays message:

Local

La Salle forward Kelsey Haycook has been named to Soccer America’s All- Freshman First Women’s Team. The Point Pleasant, NJ native was also named to the All-Atlantic 10 team, the NSCAA All-American team and was the A-10 Rookie of the Year.

MLS

Landon Donovan will return to Everton on a two-month loan. Before the official announcement, Donovan had tweeted, “Once a Toffee, always a Toffee.”

Vancouver won the rights to US international Lee Nguyen on Thursday in a weighted lottery.

Chivas USA blog The Goat Parade reviews Alejandro Moreno’s 2011 season, in which he scored the most goals since his 2008 and made 24 appearances despite missing two months of league play representing Venezuela at the Copa America. I wonder how the Union’s goal scoring would have been last season had they protected Moreno instead of bringing in Ruiz.

WPS

The New York Times says US Soccer “simply could not, and would not, pull the plug on the struggling women’s league, especially in the afterglow of last summer’s run to the final of the Women’s World Cup in Germany and with next summer’s London Olympics on the horizon.”

SI basically agrees.

Here’s the transcript of the conference call US Soccer president Sunil Gulati and WPS CEO Jennifer O’Sullivan had with reporters on Wednesday.

Former Philadelphia Independence midfielder Joanna Lohman talks about the JoLi Academy, the program founded with fellow former Independence teammate Lianne Sanderson, which “aims to change the trajectory of the lives of young women around the world – through soccer.”

WNY Flash forward Christine Sinclair has been named the Canadian Soccer Association Women’s Player of the Year for the seventh consecutive year.

Elsewhere

Click here for the Champions League draw. Tasty matchups include Napoli v Chelsea and AC Milan v Arsenal.

Click here for the Europa League draw. Manchester City drew last year’s winners, FC Porto, while Manchester United drew Ajax.

The Guardian says the Premier League needs teams that can rattle the big guns on a regular basis. Teams like Stoke City.