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Willian wants out of Arsenal, Columbus listen to their fans and Long sidelined for the season

Willian celebrates an Arsenal goal with Thomas Partey

There has been a lot of news heading into Gameweek 6 of the MLS, including Willian's desire to swap Arsenal for Miami, Columbus backtracking on the Crew and NYRB losing Aaron Long to injury.

Inter Miami top of Willian's wishlist

Willian has reportedly been looking for a move away from Arsenal at the end of this season, with David Beckham's Inter Miami being his preferred destination.

While there is nothing set in place yet, Phil Neville is eager to sign the Brazilian according to The Sun.

The main problem, however, is that the 32-year-old is on a wage of £220,000-a-week at Arsenal.

To facilitate the move, Neville is looking to offload one of the team's Designated Players, Rodolfo Pizarro.

Pizarro is one of the highest earners on the team and as a Designated Player, he is one of three who is considered to be outside of Miami's salary cap.

To bring in Willian, Pizarro would most definitely have to go so that there is a free DP spot for Miami to offer Willian the big money contract he will be looking for.

Pizarro has failed to impress in Miami so far this season, being left on the bench for the game against Cincinnati at the weekend.

Willian has also endured a very slow season for the Gunners, scoring just once in all competitions this season.

Whether the move will go through or not remains to be seen, but there is definitely interest from both parties.

Columbus makes a U-turn on name

Columbus have decided to go back on their decision to rebrand the team without 'Crew' in their name after fans strongly objected to the plans.

Last Monday, Columbus made a statement detailing the rebrand of the team for the 2022 season.

The rebrand included a big change to the club crest and of course the changing of the name from Columbus Crew to Columbus SC.

The fans instantly jumped on the change, protesting outside the home stadium saying that it was removing the team's identity.
After the backlash, the team met with their supporters group, the Nordecke, to figure something out that was satisfactory for both sides.

The outcome was the team name will remain the Columbus Crew, and the new crest will now feature the Crew name as well as "96", symbolising the club's stature as an MLS original member.

Long to miss remainder of 2021 season

Aaron Long is set to miss the remainder of the 2021 season after undergoing Achilles' tendon surgery.

The New York Red Bulls centre-back suffered the injury during their 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union at the weekend.

He still managed to play the full 90 minutes, but upon medical checks, it was clear there was something serious and he underwent successful surgery on Monday.

The 28-year-old has been a mainstay at both club and national team level.

In 2018, he was named MLS Defender of the Year and has previously been linked to multiple Premier League clubs.

For the USMNT, he has long been a staple in Gregg Berhalter's defence and was on track to make the team for this year's Nations League and Gold Cup.

NYRB have a healthy choice of backup centre-backs to replace him, but this big loss will definitely be felt throughout the season.

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