Goodbye, 2015. Hello, 2016. While this time of the year is normally reserved for thinking about the year that has gone by and planning for the year ahead there is perhaps no organization that takes this thought process as literally as Major League Soccer clubs. After seeing several of their cohorts already make moves for the 2016 season D.C. United joined the fray on Monday announcing a series of deals and trades.
Lamar Neagle made a rare outing at undiluted forward
While both trades had already been heavily reported, United confirmed on Monday that they had acquired Seattle Sounders midfielder Lamar Neagle and dealt midfielder-forward Chris Pontius to the Philadelphia Union. United received allocation and targeted money in exchange for Neagle. The team received allocation money and targeted allocation for Pontius. As per league policy, exact terms and figures for each deal were not immediately disclosed so it is unknown how much of each stipend the team gained or lost.
In addition to the already announced Neagle and Pontius deals, the club exercised options on goalkeeper Travis Worra, defenders Taylor Kemp, Chris Korb, and Luke Mishu, midfielders Miguel Aguilar and Jared Jeffrey, and forward Conor Doyle. Again, exact terms for each deal were not disclosed although options tend to be only one year.
The club did decline options for midfielder Michael Farfan and forward Jairo Arrieta and waived Facundo Coria. The club also announced that goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra and midfielder Perry Kitchen were out of contract. However in their press release United did state that, “The club is currently in contract negotiations with both players.”
Of the three Arrieta will perhaps be the greatest loss. The former Costa Rican international scored five goals for United during their 2o15 campaign and made 27 appearances with the team. But with the addition of Alvaro Saborio in late July Arrieta’s minutes dwindled. He made just one start after August the 1st in MLS regular season play and never played more than 70 minutes in a match.
Farfan made seven starts for United and was an asset in their 2015-2016 CONCACAF Champions League run. But injuries stymied his growth with the team and with the addition of Neagle became expendable. Coria made just seven appearances with United after being signed from Villarreal.
Both Arrieta and Farfan are eligible for the MLS re-entry Draft which will take place at 3pm EST on Friday.
Despite having most of their roster spots filled up, there are still some questions with this team. Of course the biggest question is with Kitchen, who has been at the center of the club’s success for the past two years. Given his age (23) and that he is no longer under contract with United he may be at his peak value. If United were to lose him and Davy Arnaud, who is still suffering from concussion symptoms, the club will look towards Markus Halsti to man the defensive midfield and sign another. The club also has the 13th pick in this year’s MLS SuperDraft.
Dykstra’s status may also change in the coming days. Although the club would likely love to have Dykstra back as Bill Hamid’s number two he has proven himself to be more than capable of handling himself as a starting goalkeeper. The 30 year old has 30 starts in his career and 101 saves. With openings in Los Angeles, Orlando, San Jose, and Toronto he may get another opportunity to start elsewhere.
