Portland Thorns FC's Tobin Heath to Play for Paris Saint-Germain Until May 23rd

Bad news for Portland Thorns FC fans. It appears that Tobin Heath, one of our more exciting prospects in the midfield will not be joining the Thorns until well after the NWSL season begins. Apparently, going over to play in France on short term loan deals is all the rage these days, as Megan Rapinoe recently did something similar when she joined Olympique Lyonnais Féminine earlier this month.

Outside of just the Thorns, this does mark a worrying trend for women's soccer in the United States. We've all grown accustom to our best players plying their trade at home despite local leagues floundering. This could happen because internationally the women's game has been relatively low-scale. However, with the French league apparently looking to bring up its game, it seems keen on signing as many of the best players as possible; which happens to include many of our national team stars.

What this ultimately means for the squad at large is still relatively unknown, as the Thorns are not a complete side yet. With over 10 more players still left to bring on, it could be that the Thorns don't need Heath for the first few weeks. Still, it'll be disappointing not seeing her play at the home opener.

What do you think of Heath not being here for the first part of the season?

[Thanks to Sargent for pointing this out.]