Following DC United’s signing of Peruvian midfielder, Edison Flores, there was a feeling that the Black and Red had one more significant move to make for the upcoming MLS season. That feeling came to fruition, as United has completed a deal with Atlanta United for 2017 MLS Rookie of the Year, Julian Gressel in exchange for one million dollars in allocation money going to ATL. Gressel and Atlanta had been locked into a tense contract dispute for the past few months and without a resolution, the 2018 MLS Cup Champions decided to move on.
Gressel joins United with a new four year contract with a significant pay increase, agreeing to a deal that should boost his salary from $114,000 to a base salary close around 700K.
In his three years in the MLS, the Bavarian born midfielder has been a vital cog for one of the best teams in the league scoring 15 goals and 35 assists in his 88 starts. In his time in the league, nobody has accumulated more assists in the league with the German outpacing the likes of Michael Barrios (30), Maxi Morales (29), and Nicolas Lodeiro (28).
The former Providence Friar will be a big boost to a team that had an enormous hole to fill with the departures of Wayne Rooney, Luciano Acosta and to a lesser degree, Lucas Rodriguez.
While Flores is a more goal-oriented midfielder (a la Rooney), Gressel will look to be the kind of provider that should fill the responsibility that Acosta left behind. The German born midfielder will give United a great deal of flexibility in midfield or even as a full back. Flores has a similar sense of flexibility and pairing those two with midfielders Paul Arriola and Yamil Asad, should give United a very dynamic and interesting midfield. With all four of these midfielders in the prime of their career (all four of those midfielders are between the ages of 24 to 27), this sets United up well for the foreseeable future. In addition, his Green card status allows him to be counted among the domestic players for United and thus provides the club with added flexibility if they want to bring in additional talent.
What looked like a troubling and disappointing upcoming season for the Black and Red has certainly seen an uptick in hope with the recent imports of Flores and Gressel. United may still have a move to make before the season starts but reading the tea leaves of the moves they’ve made so far, this is definitely a club ready to compete this season.
DC United
Atlanta United FC
