BALTIMORE, MD.-So much for a quiet afternoon for D.C. United.
After staying mostly quiet this offseason the club made a flurry of moves of Thursday at the Major League Soccer SuperDraft. After the dust settled the club ended up with midfielder Julian Buescher.
Buescher, 22, a former German youth international left college after two years at Syracuse. He was named to College Soccer News’ All-America First Team and to TopDrawerSoccer.com’s Best XI Team. He scored eight goals with the Orangemen last season and was eighth in the NCAA with 11 assists. He came to Syracuse from the VFL Bochum academy where he was named the under-19 German Bundesliga midfield player of the year.
With United having come to an impasse with former first round pick Perry Kitchen over a new contract the club was in need of making an addition in the midfield. Veteran midfielder Davy Arnaud is also not assured of coming back after sustaining another concussion late last season.
United acquired Buescher’s services after they made a trade with Sporting Kansas City. D.C. acquired Sporting’s number eleven pick in exchange for Targeted Allocation Money. As per league policy the exact amount was not disclosed.
With the club’s biggest need secured, United opted to punt on their original pick at thirteen. The club sent the pick to Orlando City Soccer Club in exchange for Targeted Allocation Money and the Purple Lions thirty-second pick in the club. With the pick United selected midfielder Paul Clowes from Clemson.
United will have four additional picks in the fourth round of the draft. The league will hold the third and fourth rounds of their draft via a teleconference call on Tuesday.
