Extra Time: Mondragon Leaving? Le Toux Staying? Mwanga Leaving, but Coming Back?

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For the unfamiliar, soccer transfer windows are like the MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL trade deadlines on steroids. It's a global game. Players move from continent to continent. Teams send scouts all over the world to identify talent. Media from around the globe speculate, rumor monger, and generally throw anything and everything against the wall and hope something sticks.
Imagine a global army of Buster Olney's, Jay Glazer's, Ric Bucher's, and Darren Dreger's racing to concoct transfer scenarios and news. It's a page-view driven world, and the more wild the speculation the better. 
My point? Take everything with a grain of salt.
What does that mean as it relates to the Philadelphia Union? Well, last night Goal.com's US Latino Chief Editor Eric Gómez tweeted that Union goalkeeper "Faryd Mondragon is rumored to be close to signing with Deportivo Cali in Colombia".
On the surface, the rumor makes some sense. Mondragon, who is from Colombia, started his professional career with Deportivo Cali. He's also 40 years old and in the twilight of his career. Returning to Colombia end his playing career would seem to have some appeal. Goal.com's Gómez later tweeted there could be some post-playing career considerations - namely becoming the goalkeeper coach for the Colombian National Team:
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@goaleric
Eric Gómez Mondragon's sudden departure has to do with the supposed offer to be the Colombia NT Goalkeeper coach, according to @jrojasa75
Jan 28 via web Favorite Retweet Reply

If Mondragon leaves, which is not a given, the Union would turn to former first round pick and second year man Zac MacMath to handle the first team goalkeeping duties.
Elsewhere, after leaving for a week long training spell with Premier League side Bolton Wanderers, Sebastien Le Toux is back in the area. Bolton manager Owen Coyle apparently was not impressed enough to pursue a transfer. CSNPhilly.com's Ryan Bright pulls a few quotes from Coyle via Sportinglife.com. Coyle said:
"Sebastien came in for a couple of days, and to be fair to him he hadn't trained for four or five weeks. He did fine and that's where it is. We'd have probably needed a longer look."
So where does this leave the Union in terms of depth at the forward position? As it stands, they currently they have Le Toux, Danny Mwanga, Jack McInerney, first round pick Chandler Hoffman, and new signing Josue Martinez. I cannot imagine they'd carry five forwards in the regular season.
What are they going to do? Well, in what can only be described as oddly-timed news, the Union released a statement yesterday announcing that Mwanga had departed for "a 10-day training stint with Barclay's English Premier League side Aston Villa". Why is the timing odd? Well, training camp opens next week (fitness testing has actually already begun).
Yes, a number of Union players have trained with European clubs this offseason (Freddy Adu, MacMath, Amobi Okugo, Zach Pfeffer, Michael Farfan, and Le Toux), but the key word there is "offseason". Why allow Mwanga to leave on a training spell on the eve of preseason camp?
I don't think Mwanga is even close to being ready to make the jump to the Premier League, so I am not too concerned about a transfer to Aston Villa, but the timing is certainly odd.
Finally, just because it was so absurd, here is video of Barcelona's Dani Alves striking an absolute laser guided missile of a goal from earlier in the week against Real Madrid in the second leg of the Copa Del Rey quaterfinals.

Photo Credit: Brett Davis, US-Presswire

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