The Orlando Pride have been around, officially, for all of a day and a half, and yet the expansion National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) club (owned by the same folks in charge of MLS side Orlando City SC) is set to make the signing of the offseason.
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According to a report from SI’s Grant Wahl, a deal has been agreed between the Pride and the Portland Thorns that will see U.S. women’s national team superstar Alex Morgan head to the Sunshine State, where she’ll be able to live in the same city as her husband, Orlando City midfielder Servando Carrasco, and play for former USWNT head coach Tom Sermanni.
Morgan, who featured heavily during the USWNT’s 2015 Women’s World Cup triumph, played each of the last three seasons (since the NWSL’s inception in 2013) for the Thorns.
From Wahl’s report:
#NWSL blockbuster. Can confirm via several sources that Orlando has deal in place for Morgan. Details from Grant. https://t.co/NtyCK1eXvz
— Jeff Kassouf (@JeffKassouf) October 22, 2015
Sources tell me that Orlando's ability to acquire Alex Morgan now factored into entering #NWSL in 2016 and not waiting until 2017.
— Jeff Kassouf (@JeffKassouf) October 22, 2015
Given that the Lions and Pride are operated by the same ownership group, a city like Orlando was always the most likely destination for the USWNT star and her slightly less famous husband (Portland Timbers and Houston Dynamo owners also own and operate their own NWSL teams).
The same circumstances surround fellow USWNT superstar Sydney Leroux, who plays for the Western New York Flash and is married to Sporting Kansas City forward Dom Dwyer. Rumors of a proposed trade to FC Kansas City have been regularly floated since the two announced their marriage on Valentine’s Day, but FCKC is owned by a group separate from Sporting KC.