Kick Off: Martins headed to China? | Surprise! Shipp dealt to Montreal

Greg Seltzer

Here are the top soccer stories everyone’s talking about this morning:

Martins To China?

Various reports have Seattle forward Obafemi Martins on the verge of a move to China. Sounders GM Garth Lagerwey told reporters Sunday night that a Chinese team has approached Seattle about Martins, but that no deal is done.

Shipp-ed North

The weekend's other big news was the surprise trade of Chicago playmaker Harry Shipp to the Montreal Impact. As he departed for his new club, the Fire Homegrown product penned a heartfelt open letter to the Chicago supporters. In the final analysis, Sam Stejskal writes that the Fire faithful have every reason to be hot under the collar, but that the club's brass deserve time to build their core before we rush to judgment.

Residual Impact

Montreal were not done dealing with the acquisition of Shipp; they then sent US Under-23 defender Eric Miller to the Colorado Rapids on Sunday.

Galactic Potential

On the heels of Nigel de Jong's preseason debut, his LA Galaxy boss and teammates are all raving about his potential impact in the side.

Let's Make A Deal

Serie A giants AC Milan are on the record saying midfielder Antonio Nocerino is set to join Orlando City. Washington Post Soccer Insider Steven Goff reports that the Lions have sent allocation money to D.C. United to acquire his discovery rights.

Frank Lampard, Travel Agent

The New York City FC star says that if Chelsea aren't going to re-sign John Terry, he'll fly his former teammate across the pond to join him in MLS.

Mac Pro

New Portland Timbers recruit Jack McInerney is now working on his fourth team since the start of the 2014 season, but the 23-year-old striker insists his best is yet to come.

Old Head, Forward Thinking

He may have a little grey in his beard these days, but Houston's DaMarcus Beasley is not slowing down yet.

Gio-Politics

Galaxy star Giovani dos Santos hasn't been a big part of the Mexican national team since moving to MLS, but that might be changing after he met with El Tri boss Juan Carlos Osorio on Friday to discuss his immediate international future.

Yura Winner

Yura Movsisyan fired in the lone-goal winner in Real Salt Lake's friendly victory over Korean side Seongnam on Sunday.

Bedeviled

DeAndre Yedlin is drawing rave reviews after helping Sunderland defeat mighty Manchester United on Saturday.

Net Losses

TheWashington Post runs down the sudden concerns with what has long been a US national team strength: the goalkeeping position. The examination comes on the heels of comments from Everton boss Roberto Martinez that hint at Tim Howard losing his Goodison Park place after a decade of manning the net.

Tor! Tor!

This weekend, Fabian Johnson bagged his fifth goal of the Bundesliga season in a 'Gladbach losing cause, while Bobby Wood hit his ninth (good for third on the 2. Bundesliga chart) in spectacular fashion to help Union Berlin win for the third time in four games. Check out video of both strikes.

Fast Lane

Erstwhile Crew SC striker Aaron Schoenfeld hasn't taken long to find his footing in Israel. He transferred from cellar dwellers Maccabi Netanya to Hapoel Tel Aviv just two weeks after arriving, scored the equalizer on his Hapoel debut and then nodded the late winner in his second game for them on Saturday. Now, he's reportedly on the verge of being called up to the Israeli national team.