CARSON, Calif. -- The makeover of the Los Angeles Galaxy, which has featured the arrival of a dozen new players during the offseason, could reach epic proportions if overseas reports are to be believed.
And that has Galaxy head coach/general manager Bruce Arena shaking his head.
The latest item came out of an "exclusive" in this week's Daily Mirror in England and stated the Galaxy are interested in acquiring Newcastle United's Michael Owen, who is in the final months of a contract that reportedly pays him about $200,000 a week and is scheduled to expire on June 30.
If that's not enough, an earlier report in the Turin newspaper Tuttosport said the Galaxy were preparing to make an offer for Juventus standout Alessandro Del Piero, among the highest-paid players in the world at $14.3 million a year, according to Forbes.com.
Throw in the ongoing rumors about the possible departures of David Beckham and Landon Donovan to AC Milan and Bayern Munich, where they are on respective loan agreements, and it's enough to leave Arena just short of frustrated.
"Anything about me getting a job somewhere?" he asked jokingly. "I heard Chelsea was interested.
"Who else do you have? They're all sitting beautifully in our salary cap. I'm hoping for a Ronaldinho or Messi rumor as well. That would be nice."
Ronaldinho and Messi, by the way, reportedly earn more than $30 million and $11 million a year, respectively, according to Forbes.
Regarding Owen, Arena made it clear the Galaxy has had no contact with Newcastle United.
"There's probably zero percent accuracy in that report," he said, "which is kind of standard. If it's somewhere between zero to 100 percent accuracy, that one's closer to zero."
Donovan was quoted in the German newspaper Abendzeitung in which he said, "If I go back to the Galaxy, we have our first game March 21, so I'd have to return at least one week earlier. But that would be sad. I want to make it here. It is my dream. I want to stay here a few years."
Donovan has scored four goals in five exhibitions and has earned rave reviews from Bayern Munich coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
Beckham also is doing well at AC Milan, where he has impressed coach Carlo Ancelotti. Club vice president Adriano Galliani was quoted as saying the club will try to make the transfer permanent.
The loan agreements for both players end March 8.
"A lot of this stuff ... you know the background of this stuff," Arena said. "A lot of it is inaccurate. There are times when it is accurate. But you can't react to every press report, you know?
"Somewhere between all this stuff is the truth. I'll say what we've said all along, we have two players out on loan agreements, and those end March 8. We've never said anything otherwise.
"I'm not sure it's appropriate if the biggest clubs in the world make comments without contacting us. Having said that, we don't know if there's anything accurate at the other end, either. I'll leave it at that. But I will tell you this: we will honor our end of these loan agreements, and we'll do everything that's proper," Arena said.
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