NWSL "Signing Period" Closes January 31st; Portland Thorns FC Can Sign Up to Four

The Portland Thorns FC have slowly (very slowly) added players to their roster over the last month. With 11 players so far, however, that leaves them with at least 9 spots to fill, though more likely somewhere closer to 11-13 spots to fill. That should give the Thorns somewhere between 22-24 players for their inaugural season.

The good news is that we should be hearing about just who some of these free agency players are within the next few days. According to US Soccer, the NWSL "signing period" is set to close this Thursday, January 31st and it the period during which each NWSL team is allowed to sign up to four players who were not part of the NWSL national team allocation draft. The Western New York Flash are alloed to sing up to five.

According to multiple sources, Allie Long, a former WPA and Paris-Saint Germain midfielder, has already signed with the Portland Thorns, which leaves three spots left to fill should head coach Cindy Parlow Cone think she needs them.

After the signing period closes, the league will prepare for it's first ever Supplemental Draft which is where the remainder of the club players should come from (between 8-10 per team).

So, for those of you who are Thorns fans already, stay tuned this week. I wouldn't be too surprised if we got some official announcements very soon.

Are there any players you're hoping to see the Portland Thorns FC sign this week?