There was a midweek rumbling about a signed agreement to transfer the last parcel of land available in the Arena District. This parcel is the infamous plat where the new Crew stadium will rise. The rumor was hot — and it is sort of true, in spirit.

There are a lot of agreements to be signed, in part because there are so many parties involved. Among them: Nationwide Realty Investors, which owns the land; Haslam Sports Group, which, with the Edwards family, owns the Crew; and the city of Columbus, one of the public players in this public/private effort. The way I hear it, there are agreements that have been signed and there are agreements that have yet to be signed. There are also a couple of minor wrinkles to be ironed.

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Status quo, in other words.

Yet, the parties involved appear to be brimming with confidence.

“We’re well past the worry stage and into the excitement stage,” said one source familiar with the negotiations. “(Everyone involved) is happy with the progress. There are no apparent complications that will affect the timeline.”

They’re looking to close the real-estate deal in September and break ground for construction in October. If things go according to plan, the new stadium will open sometime in midsummer of 2021.

Crew fans who have been frustrated by this monthslong process can expect a cascade of announcements later this summer and into autumn. Among the reveals will be an updated rendering of the stadium. One might guess that this is the reason for the “excitement stage.”

Crew officials have said their aim is to add an iconic structure to the Columbus skyline — and they think they have the stadium design to do it. Perhaps this is what prompted MLS commissioner Don Garber to say recently that he was excited about what was happening in Columbus, among other places. Given that Garber once conspired to tear the Crew from its roots, this is quite a testament.

I jab at Garber because he deserves it. He also deserves a healthy share of credit for the growth of the league over his 20-year tenure. His latest expansion announcement came this week in St. Louis, which has a long and rich soccer tradition — and will come on line as the league’s 28th team in 2022.

St. Louis’ hopes seemed dead in 2017, when voters rejected a tax that was to finance a stadium. Then, another local investor got involved — just as the Edwards family did at the darkest hour in Crew history — and helped save the bid. As happened in Arch City, the city with the arch will erect a downtown stadium that will be financed largely with private capital. The public/private partnership looks a lot like Columbus’.

Scoreboard: Nashville and Inter Miami are scheduled to join MLS next year, Austin FC in 2021 and St. Louis in 2022.

Sacramento, for years in the expansion pipeline, is the favorite to be the league’s 29th team after its ownership group got an infusion of new wealth.

Garber has said the plan (for now) is 30 teams. Although Charlotte is ready to get up and running posthaste, the league is still flirting with other cities — likely for the purposes of creating a bidding war accompanied by a re-inflated expansion fee. If there is a bit of a Bernie Madoff feel to all of this, it is probably because “The Soccer Don” Garber is appropriately nicknamed.

At some point, expansion fees will run dry and new stadiums will become old stadiums. A better on-field product and a growth of other revenue streams (television rights, for example) will help mitigate the league’s aging process, but challenges will remain. The next commissioner will have to be a much smarter person. Which is doable.

marace@dispatch.com

@MichaelArace1