No deal at this time for Carli Lloyd to join Manchester City

Updated Saturday, February 11: The Houston Chronicle's Corey Roepken reports that Carli Lloyd has not yet received any offer from Manchester City.

Here's the original story.

Word spread across Twitter on Friday that Carli Lloyd has been in talks with Manchester City about signing with the English club's well-regarded women's team:

These are no small reports: Henry Winter is one of the top reporters for the Times of London, and Andrew Gibney works for FourFourTwo and Yahoo, among other outlets.

A few hours later, SoccerWire's Charles Boehm reported he's heard from "multiple sources" that Lloyd "has signed with Manchester City's women's squad and will be unveiled next week."

I have been told by a source who'd know that there is no deal in place. That doesn't mean there won't be, because there have been conversations of consequence. But from what I understand, right now, it's not done.

There's no way around the fact that what I've heard directly contradicts what everyone else has heard. I don't know who anyone else's sources are on either side of the Atlantic. I'm chasing some kind of official confirmation just like everyone else is.

I'm at least certain of this: it's no surprise that Lloyd has attracted interest from foreign clubs of Man City's caliber. She told me in January that she's had offers from foreign teams, and that she was open to the possibility of accepting one if the circumstances were right.

Officially, Lloyd is still on the roster of the National Women's Soccer League's Houston Dash. A Dash spokesman told me and the Houston Chronicle's Corey Roepken that they have not received any confirmation that Lloyd is leaving.

But it's somewhat out of their control, as Lloyd's salary is paid by the U.S. Soccer Federation, not the Dash. U.S. Soccer subsidizes the contracts of top national team stars in the NWSL.

The U.S. women's national team players are in the midst of collective bargaining talks. They are playing under an extension of the previous CBA, which itself was a memorandum that extended the previous deal.

There has not been a new CBA signed since 2005. That deal ran until 2012, and the memorandum extended it through 2016.

Lloyd and her teammates will play their first game of 2017 at Talen Energy Stadium on March 1, when they open the SheBelieves Cup by facing reigning Olympic champion Germany.

The Twitter handle above is for my general news reporting. My soccer handle is @thegoalkeeper. Contact me there for any questions about this post.