Damallsvenskan Newsblog

Umeå IK's management is looking less and less optimistic about the club's chances to keep Marta. "The Americans have the upper hand now", said sport director Britta Åkerlund yesterday. "The American league is extremely anxious to get Marta, the same way they brought over David Beckham. I think they are prepared to go very far to reach their goal", she concluded.
A rumour, retold by tabloid Expressen, says that the Los Angeles WPS club, that drafted Marta, is prepared to pay her between SEK 8 and 10 millions a year - far out of reach for any Swedish club. Marta's present salary from Umeå is about SEK 1 million a year. Personal contracts gives her almost another million. That is still far from the rumoured American offer and Marta has stated that if the difference between the offers are big, the money will decide "I want to be able to help provide for my family", she has explained.
Nonetheless, there are now three Swedish clubs giving offers to Marta. In addition to Umeå IK and LDB FC Malmö, Linköping FC has announced their interest. Linköping has done this the last few years and sport director Anders Mäki says that "it would be criminal not to try to get Marta".
Expressen: Amerikansk miljonjakt på Marta
Fotbollskanalen: Marta lämnar Umeå (video)

USA's national team coach Pia Sundhage says in an interview that she is confident that Marta will go to the WPS league. And, furthermore, that she should go: "She will be playing with gold medalists. The quality will be higher than in Damallsvenskan. The Swedish league is too uneven. In USA there will be world class players in every team."
SVT: Sundhage: "Marta flyttar till USA"

Losing Marta, as hurtful as it might be for Umeå, could be a blessing in disguise. The money used for Marta's salary can easily pay two world class players. Umeå's manager Andrée Jeglertz has revealed that the club has taken steps to begin talk's with AIK's prolific goalscorer Lisa De Vanna. De Vanna will however only be interesting if the club fails to keep Marta.
Västerbottenskuriren: De Vanna kan ersätta Marta