Happy Thursday everyone. Yesterday, I made the long trip home from the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and Australia. Wednesday for me was about 46 hours, so while I catch up on some sleep, here’s the news from yesterday:
Republic FC signs Academy product Da’vian Kimbrough to pro contract (USL)
Da’vian Kimbrough becomes the youngest professional player in American sports history, as the 13-year-old signs with the Sacramento Republic.
USMNT’s Matt Turner leaves Arsenal to join Nottingham Forest (ESPN)
Matt Turner is headed to Nottingham Forest on a 4-year deal. Here’s hoping he solidifies his place as the starter and helps Forest a ton between the posts.
Charlotte FC waive defender Joseph Mora (MLS)
Former D.C. United defender Joseph Mora has been waived by Charlotte FC. It’s unknown where the next stop is for the 30-year-old Costa Rican.
Mbappé to miss PSG’s opener amid contract dispute (ESPN)
The Kylian Mbappé-PSG drama continues, as the forward will miss PSG’s opening match.
West Ham transfer news: Hammers agree deals for Harry Maguire and James Ward-Prowse (BBC)
Harry Maguire and James Ward-Prowse are headed to London Stadium as West Ham secures transfers to bring both of them to the club.
Monterrey president says Leagues Cup favors MLS sides (ESPN)
Monterrey’s president says the Leagues Cup is set up to favor MLS teams, which make up 6 of the final 8. Monterrey’s president is partially right in that future editions of the tournament should include having Liga MX teams playing at home. But, this tournament is set up to favor Lionel Messi, not the other MLS teams.
Alright, back to sleep I go.
I’m a little bit sadder than I thought I’d be to see Freddy Adu replaced as the youngest pro athlete. Although I think for now he still holds that record as youngest to actually appear in a game.
Major leagues. He’ll always have that.
The MLSPA released the list of who’s eligible to be a free agent this year. A reminder is that the rules are now any player who’s 24 years old and has 5+ years of MLS service. Doesn’t matter what kind of salary they’ve made or designation they’ve held. Teams can sign unlimited free agents.
And another reminder that many of these players will be re-signed before or during the offseason, and some will retire.
For DC, here are the players on the team that will be free agents at the end of the year:
Yamil Asad
Russell Canouse
Ruan
Erik Hurtado
Andy Najar
Donovan Pines
I’d expect that Canouse and Pines would be our main targets to re-sign. I’d thought Najar signed an extension that locked him down for longer than this, and I thought Ruan was under contract beyond this year too. Ah well. I think if Asad and Hurtado go elsewhere, I wouldn’t be too upset.
Other DC alumni who are on the list: Julian Gressel, Lucho Acosta, Junior Moreno, Steve Clark, Tony Alfaro, Dax McCarty, Ema Boateng, Earl Edwards, Jr., Felipe, and Joseph Mora.
There’s a lot of other intriguing players, too. Besides the guys on the team now, there are some players that could potentially make an impact next year. Our team isn’t exactly hurting for veteran presence, but there’s some good veteran presence and depth that can be had on this list. Who would you want?
https://mlsplayers.org/news/list-of-2024-free-agents
Last I read, Najar’s contract had an option for 2024. Has he already been told it won’t be exercised?
Seems like we’ll be moving a lot again between seasons. Not a great way to build a team, but we were all predicting it when Rooney came in anyway.
I think I may have missed a part on the chart that said which players had options for next year (it was probably the far right column that I didn’t pay attention to).
DC always seems to execute those at the last minute.
Pines is the only one DC doesn’t have an option for according to the list. So he’s probably the key one to resign.
I’d say keep Najar and Ruan for one more year. They’re both a little injury prone and on not insignificant contracts so I’d hesitate to lock down long term.
Extend Canouse if possible but for sure keep him next year.
Hurtado can go. Asad might be worth keeping since he has a low salary but depends on who else we’re looking to sign.
Pines really seemed to be in Rooney’s doghouse at the end of last year. It felt like a pretty sure thing that he’d get traded, and it took awhile for him to get playing time this year. But he’s really shone this season. Good for him, and good for his agent! He’ll likely be getting a nice deal this offseason, either from DC or somewhere else.
Granted, I’ve always really like Asad, but I feel like he’s proven himself this year as useful, versatile, and frankly really cheap (he’s only making 100k this year) depth. If he stays around that price point, I feel like having a versatile sub that you can essentially throw anywhere on the field (something akin to Jared Jeffrey or NDL) has its place. Is he the stud that he was a few years ago? Probably not, but I think he still has something to give
Agreed about Asad. He seems to like it here and it’s not like opponents can pick on him if he gets spot starts, he’s technically pretty solid.
Report just came out from the Athletic that DC and Taxi have officially parted ways after MLS found the most recent accusations “credible.” Opens up a DP spot for the team, but they are limited to anyone who is a free agent
I’m glad there’s a real (and relatively quick) resolution this time. Really hoping Fajardo, KDP and all the other guys available at forward can put up some shots. Purely from a sporting perspective, Taxi was the only guy who put up a reasonable volume of shots (though often terrible, especially this season). Despite all the doom and gloom, I think we have a good enough team to make it into the playoffs and at least annoy our opponents. Are we close to winning the Cup? Obviously not. So I’d rather not try to fill the DP spot with some random cast-off just to say we’ve filled it. If Miami makes the correct choice to release Messi though…
I heard there are a couple of guys that want to leave some French club based in Paris? Some Brazilian named Neimore and a French kid named Mape? Might be worth taking a flyer on one of them.
Fun fact! Christian Benteke played in 29 league games for Liverpool and scored 9 goals. He’s played in 29 league games for DC and has scored 9 goals!
Just more proof that MLS is the equivalent of the Premiership! (hah!)