Merritt Paulson, Caleb Porter

Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson, left, walks off the pitch with Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter, right.

(Ted S. Warren)

As rumors continue to circulate regarding who the LA Galaxy will name as its new head coach, Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson made it clear Monday that Timbers coach Caleb Porter "isn't going anywhere."

In a recent article, Goal.com speculated that Porter could be a possible contender for the LA Galaxy job in part because he was college teammates at Indiana University with Galaxy president Chris Klein.

While there have been no sources citing Porter as a contender for the Galaxy job, rumors continued to circulate Monday after the LA Galaxy announced that they were requesting permission from other MLS teams to speak with some current coaches.

But when contacted by The Oregonian/OregonLive, Paulson said that Porter will remain in Portland next season.

"I am surprised by the question as there is no coaching job in MLS bigger than the Timbers," Paulson told The Oregonian/OregonLive. "Caleb is happy here and we are happy with him. He isn't going anywhere."

The head coaching job in LA opened up last week when Bruce Arena, who had coached the Galaxy since 2008, was named as the head coach of the U.S. National Team after U.S. Soccer parted ways with long-time coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg