But would he really help their offense?

As luck would have it today those talks are back on between the two sides.

Former Leicester City striker Paul Dickov has turned down the chance of a return to The Walkers Stadium and is set to move to Major League Soccer.

Dickov is currently in Canada for talks about a switch to Toronto FC who play in the US league.

The 35-year-old Scot spent part of last season on loan at Blackpool, who were also interested in signing him.

Dickov turned down Toronto to possibly join Leicester City, but now he has had a change of heart. He turned down Leicester City over the weekend and is now in Canada talking with Mo Johnston again about joining the club.

For those who may not recall, the Reds put a discovery claim on Dickov so they have the rights to him and to discuss a contract with him before any other club.

Should Dickov sign with the club I will pass along that information to you all. I do know he won’t be a big DP style contract from the club but he should get decent money ($200 to $300K range). This pretty much will confirm that Jeff Cunningham’s days are numbered in Toronto if Dickov signs with the club.

What do you all make of these new developments?

According to reports out of England, Dickov turned down Toronto’s offer and could be joining Leicester City.

The 35-year-old had been expected to accept Simon Grayson’s offer of a new deal at Bloomfield Road after choosing not to join MLS side Toronto FC.

He joined Blackpool on-loan in January and his six goals proved vital in the club’s fight against relegation in the Coca Cola Championship.

However, the Daily Star claims that new Leciester boss Nigel Pearson has given him the chance to move to the Walker’s Stadium.

So if this is indeed true, it sounds like Toronto will have to look elsewhere for another striker. Maybe Turkish striker Hakan Sukur? Someone out there seems to think so because according to Sukur’s Wiki page he has already signed with Toronto. There are a couple other names floating out there so who knows what Mo Johnston will actually do.

More on this as details come down…

According to Soccer America and another source, Toronto is close to signing forward Paul Dickov for an 18-month contact worth about $500,000. Dickov will make close to the league maximum next season and be paid about half of that for the rest of this season. His acquisition is expected to be announced today, or as soon as there is a roster slot available. The Reds waived Andrea Lombardo last week but still needs to trim a player to make room for Dickov.

Toronto as we all know seemingly owned the cards to a lot of players. They filed discovery claims on both Dickov and forward Darren Huckerby (who was later traded to San Jose) before anyone else. Mo Johnston is hoping to come out on top in both deals as well as the on-going Brian McBride saga.

Dickov adds to the attack of Danny Dichio and Jeff Cunningham along with a strong midfield of Amado Guevara in the middle; Rohan Ricketts and Laurent Robert on the wings; and Maurice Edu and Carl Robinson in the defensive midfield slots. I must say if Dickov is nearly as effective as his resume presents itself, Toronto could easily be one of the favorites out of the east this season.

There is question abut his age (35) but along with the toughness of Dichio and the speed of Cunningham, Dickov is a new element to John Carver’s attack. He’s a pesky kind of guy that knows how to find the ball. Dickov scored 97 goals in 278 league appearances for eight teams, and comes to MLS after being loaned by Manchester City to Crystal Palace and Blackpool.

What do you all think? Good signing or bad because of age? I haven’t seen Dickov play in a couple years so I want to withhold any predictions of him until I see him play here. He’s either going to be a great addition or a total waste.

I’m not totally knocking those people who are believing everything they hear or see out there. Some of it may actually happen and I will be wrong in the process but more than likely from the people I’ve talked to over the past couple weeks most of the talk is just that, talk.

So what do I make of different rumors and trades going on? Well, over the last couple of days while I have been on vacation I have watched countless rumors flood in like something was going out of style. So let’s go through them here real quickly and try to see what has legs and what has just a bunch of people thinking wishfully here.

Amazingly a lot of it centers around Toronto FC and Carlos Ruiz. Not necessarly the two getting together in a deal but what Toronto is looking to do with a number of players and what LA is trying to do with Ruiz.

Ruiz to Columbus for Frankie Hedjuk.

I know Columbus is interested in Ruiz. Hell, who isn’t right now. The Fish is on the trading block for good reason and really there are only a few places he will end up at. Columbus could be on but let’s face it, Hedjuk isn’t the part that LA would get in return. Yes they want defense and yes they could say this is a pretty fair deal but to me it doesn’t have the legs to get me going here.

First off, LA would be getting a fairly high contract in Hedjuk in return. That’s something they don’t want and probably don’t need at this point. Plus they are currently looking elsewhere to get defensive help so bringing on a guy like Hedjuk in a trade just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Secondly, LA wants a center back, not a wing back. I know Hedjuk could shift to the middle but that isn’t his spot. He’s a wing back through and through as we’ve seen over the years. Sure he would fit right in on the wings for LA but the true problems are in the middle of LA’s defense, not the wings.

Then you have sites like MLS Rumors posting emails like this one about this trade. Yeah, read the comments and you can pretty much get an understanding of this and what most people think about it. MLSR isn’t the only people out there talking about this deal, I’ve heard it elsewhere. The thing is the email in that post is pretty pathetic really. The writer doesn’t have an understanding of the MLS rules (saying LA would have an open Designated Player slot if Ruiz is traded) and says that there was some “deadline” to get this deal done. The only recent deadline was for player contracts earlier in the week and that would have nothing to do with teams trading players.

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I still believe Ruiz is going to be moved. Some still think Toronto is in the mix for Ruiz and that is total BS. The Reds are looking to bring on guys like Darren Huckerby or Paul Dickov right now and that would not make sense to trade for Ruiz. Plus there is the fact that if one or both of those two are signed by Toronto, you will more than likely see a guy like Jeff Cunningham dealt. And not to LA.

Don’t be shocked to see Cunningham leave Toronto this month in a deal to a club like Columbus, Chivas, or Colorado. All want forwards and would love to get their hands on a player like Cunningham (even if he is a headache at times).

To me Toronto still holds the key to nearly every deal right now. Even the Ruiz deal. How they handle Brian McBride, Darren Huckerby, Paul Dickov, Jeff Cunningham, Carlos Ruiz, etc., etc., is going to go a long way in how some clubs wheel and deal in the coming weeks. A lot of folks don’t want to admit that Toronto holds the ball right now for these deals but all you have to do is read into the fact that nothing is going to get done until Toronto says so.

I’m sure some will say the league will have the final say in everything, which of course they will, but this time around its the club and not the league directing traffic. That’s a new thing for people to understand right now.

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SO where do I see everyone go?

McBride to Chicago will still happen. I’m not totally sure about Huckerby or Dickov but it sounds like Toronto for at least one of them, if not both. Huckerby could still end up in San Jose if the Quakes give up enough cash for the deal. Cunningham will be dealt and I would be totally shocked if he wasn’t this summer. Ruiz will go somewhere, I just can’t wrap my finger around where yet, though Chivas still sounds like a very reasonable ending for that deal. Though I wouldn’t be shocked if Columbus does indeed pull the trigger on a deal for Ruiz in the end as well. They have the cap space and could make him a DP next year if his contract isn’t grandfathered for another year.

A lot is about to go down. That much I do know. Probably within the next week we will see some crazy deals happen.

Oh yeah, what about Wilman Conde in that LA deal with Toronto and Chicago? It could still happen but I’m starting to get the feeling that Conde is staying in Chicago for the time being. He will leave this winter though, that much I do count on.

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Same could be said for San Jose. I haven’t heard if they are interested in Ruiz but I know they are trying to figure out what to do with guys like Joe Vide. They are also looking to bring on Darren Huckerby if Toronto doesn’t sign him first.

I have seen that the Quakes are going to sign midfielder Francisco Lima. Look for that move to be finalized this week.

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New York officially presented newly acquired midfielders Jorge Rojas (Venezuela) and Juan Martin Pietravallo (Argentina). Both players are still awaiting there P-1 visa and cannot debut until after the July 15 transfer window. 

The Red Bulls are said to be still shopping around for another defender (Mexican defender Diego Jimenez and/or Gabriel Cichero) along with another forward to replace Jozy Altidore.

Cichero could very well be the guy to turn what is a very average defense into one of the better defensive units in MLS. The Venezuelan national team player is said to be sharp on the attack and could be very similar to Wilman Conde.

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You can be the judge on some of these rumors, I’m fairly certain about some of these. Forgive me if some of this is a few days old.

I want to start here in my town, Dallas, about a little rumor about Manchester United going after teenage prospect at FC Dallas, Brek Shea. I know this one is almost a week old but it falls into the category in my books of a “yeah, riiiight” in terms of likely happening.

Here’s what the report says on ManU and Shea:

Alex Ferguson is chasing big Brek Shea – the new rising star of United States football.

Manchester United’s top scout Jim Lawlor is preparing to fly to the States to watch the giant 18 year old, who is skipper of his country’s youth team, on the orders of Old Traf ford boss Ferguson.

The 6ft 3in Shea, who plays for FC Dallas in the MLS, caught United’s eye at last month’s Toulon tournament in France, where he stood out despite being years younger than most in the under-23 category.

The powerful Shea, whose family is of Norwegian stock, can play at centrehalf or in midfield and has been outstanding in his first season as a professional in America.

Shea is a colourful character who used to have a Samuraistyle haircut until he was told to get it trimmed by a national youth team coach.

He now sports a more conservative look that would meet the approval of strict disciplinarian Sir Alex Ferguson. The billionaire Glazer family, who own United, would love an all-American boy to sign because the potential spin-offs would be huge.

Honestly, I love Bristish writing. Especially when they know absolutely little of what they are talking about when it comes to Major League Soccer. I know Shea had a great time with the U-23 National team in France a month ago but that most certainly won’t be enough to get him to join a club like ManU.

Shea was the second overall pick in this year’s SuperDraft. He’s largely seen as a big time project for FC Dallas. He has the tools and the talent to be a big time player I think, but for now he is only seeing reserve time. Plus there is the argument in Dallas surrounding some of the young players that he isn’t nearly as good as fellow rookie Eric Avila. Its an argument but nothing more.

I wouldn’t read too much into this rumor just yet. Maybe if Shea had actually seen significant time on the pitch this season and had done well we would be a little more serious about this.

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Deseretnews.com is reporting that German midfielder Sebastian Schindzielorz is currently on trial with the  club. Schindzielorz is currently plays his football with Levadiakos in the Greek 1st division (Super League Greece) has played in the German Bundesliga with VfL Bochum and FC Koln.

He’s brought in by management for his athleticism and could fill the vacant roster spot.

His trial began a week ago with RSL. No word really yet on how it is going. The club is exploring other options with their open spot so you could see another player or two come in on trial real soon to compete for the position.

As we’ve seen in recent weeks, this club needs a strong midfielder, particularly on the wings. Schindzielorz could be that guy as he does have the experience and could be a good fit for RSL.

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We all know the New York Red Bulls are looking to make a few moves in the next couple of weeks once the transfer window opens up for them. Now the word around the internet world is that a former teammate of Claudio Reyna at Manchester City could be on to join the fun. Paul Dickov had been linked with a couple clubs earlier in the year and is now in line to possibly join the Red Bulls.

According to Sky Sports and Setanta, he may come over during the summer window next month.

The Scottish 35-year old sounds like a bit of a waste to me. I know the club needs a striker at this point but getting an aged striker may not be the answer. He knows how to score but hasn’t seen a lot of competitive action over the last couple of years as Man City has loaned him out to a couple clubs.

The biggest reason why anyone is speculating his name right now in a link to MLS is due to his time with Reyna and Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio. Yeah, it may be nice to get a familiar face in the locker room for these two guys but that doesn’t mean it will work out. This club needs a player with pace and the ability to knock in shots. I’m not saying Dickov isn’t that player but to me this just doesn’t seem like a smart move for the club if it is going to happen.

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Another EPL player is being rumored to a move across the sea to MLS. Nolberto Solano of West Ham United is said to be on the move this offseason. A couple MLS clubs have said to be interested in his services. Solano wants to say in England for another couple seasons if possible but he could make the jump if the right deal comes along. Liverpool is rumored to bid for the winger, so if that is the case throw this one out.

The 33-year old midfielder from Peru could be a good fit for a number of clubs. I could actually see this guy working out in New York or for a club like Chivas. He has good pace and certainly knows how to score.

The biggest draw for a MLS club is the free transfer part. His contract with West Ham ends at the end of the month and it wouldn’t be too difficult to get him to the States if he really wanted to come.

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And lastly for the day…is another edition of the Jared Borgetti to MLS rumor. This time MLS Rumors is linking him to the Houston Dynamo as possibly their designated player.

Uh, yeah, right. Houston wants and needs a striker like Borgetti but currently lacks the funds to do so. They would first have to dump a player in a trade or something along that lines to free up the cap space and then sign him to a deal either as a DP or something on long the lines of one like a Schelotto.

He’s been linked before in 2006 and again in 2007…and now again in 2008 to MLS. Will it happen? More than likely at this point it won’t happen. That is unless some team or the league makes him a deal that he cannot turn down.

Would I like to see Houston sign a player like Borgetti? Sure, if the right move presents itself. Colorado, Chivas, and San Jose have all said to be interested in him in the past. Now Houston is getting their turn on the rumor mill with him.