DC United Signs Two Draft Picks, Spirit Waters Run Deep, and More: Wednesday Freedom Kicks
Happy Hump day! Sorry for the delayed publication, but there’s plenty to get to, so let’s!
Boom, DC United news!
Boom, more DC United news!
D.C. United Loans Goalkeeper Kim Joon Hong to Suwon Samsung Bluewings– DC United
Plop, we kinda knew about this one…
I’m personally pretty excited and curious to see these draft picks in action. Where will Markovic find himself on the depth chart in the opening months of the season? Will Aman adjust his skills to current MLS levels? As for Joon’s loan, while there’s a non zero chance he is reevaluated by the DC FO after this loan, putting that option to buy in there indicates an exit is expected.
Washington Spirit sign Paraguay star teen Claudia Martínez – source– ESPN
It hasn’t yet been announced by the clubs, but here it is. Big money move for a promising international talent. A lot more to be revealed.
Tamara Bolt returns to DC and the Washington Spirit while Stainbrook departs to Dallas and for the coming GSL season. Bethune is reportedly giving the thumbs up on Bolt’s impact, so we’ll see.
Imagine, if you will:
Kang approaches the microphones as the Godfather music starts playing. An elaborate cinematic montage begins to show owners who refused to go along with raising the salary cap in various settings and scenarios. They look at their phones in horror as, one by one, they realize their most potent stars are leaving for a Kang owned club. Kang finally speaks about Rodman’s fate. Flawless execution.
New England Revolution acquire Griffin Yow– MLS
Yow is officially going to compete against DC United this coming season.
Congrats to Vancouver for discovering this talent, cuz that’s definitely a thing.
USMNT 2026 World Cup big board 4.0: Roster coming into focus– ESPN
These articles are starting to get written. It’s coming.
Brian Gutierrez, Richard Ledezma switching from USMNT to Mexico– Reuters
The Gutierrez switch had largely been established, but Ledezma has also decided to play for Mexico going forward. They’re both employed by Chivas in Liga MX, so this isn’t exactly a shock.
USMNT World Cup roster watch: Patrick Agyemang, Haji Wright break scoring droughts at the right time– Yahoo Sports
I’m gonna need you to not do these things at the times you do them, Patrick. Come on!- Josh Sargent calling Agyemang from Norwich U-21 training.
USMNT, Monaco striker Balogun: Playing vs. Real Madrid ‘a dream’– ESPN
Balogun was unable to keep his Champions League scoring streak going as Real Madrid ran up the score at the Bernebau yesterday, but the experience was still one for the striker’s personal bucket list.
Trinity Rodman and the HIP rule: USWNT stars going abroad may not be the worst thing– The Guardian
A British publication sees some benefit to US stars signing abroad out of NWSL. I wonder why? Bias aside, it’s still an in depth summation of the situation.
USWNT Abroad: Alyssa Thompson scores again for Chelsea, Emily Fox exits injured for Arsenal– Goal.com
Alyssa Thompson has now found her feet in London, and turns out she’s still super fast, skilled, and deadly. Meanwhile, Emily Fox had to leave the field after a collision resulted in a head injury. Tullis-Joyce was also in action, although only in the most technical sense as she was not required to make a single save as Man U trounced Burnley.
Annie I’m sure will cover this, but reminder that the USWNT will take on Paraguay on Saturday and Chile next Tuesday. Click the link for viewing info.
Seattle Reign FC Signs NWSL Veteran Forward Brittany Ratcliffe– Reign FC
Spirit attacker Brittany Ratcliffe has moved on to Seattle. Lynn Williams is gonna like her tenacity and underrated drive to affect the final third.
US opens priority visa appointment system for World Cup– BBC
The two wolves of greed and reactive xenophobic cruelty continue to war within the current US administration as the World Cup looms. FIFA and the world are not unconcerned.
How It Happened: Bodo/Glimt pull off massive upset as Manchester City fail away in the Arctic Circle– The Guardian
It was pretty straight forward, really. Bodo/Glimt created the better chances, and were able to finish them. Pep Guardiola experienced some real psychic anguish.
The extraordinary story of a soccer coach, a kidnapping and a Saudi job that didn’t exist – The Athletic
Finally, if you can’t deliver light hearted fun, a dramatic psychological thriller will do. This is the insane story of former MLS Coach, Adrian Heath, not realizing that a job offer was in fact a criminal setup for a nightmare. He’s not the only victim of such activity.
That’s all I’ve got! One-up me in the comments, and have a great sporting day!
MLS just released the official GAM amount that each team currently has available (I’m assuming as of today, but its a bit unclear). DC is listed as having $4,220,649. Some teams have as little as $2.5M, and as much as $7.25M, so DC is sort of lower middle of the pack.
Yeah, could be worse. We also are in pretty decent shape regarding international slots (especially if Matti Peltola can get a green card, although I haven’t heard any news about that). International slots seem to be going for $300,000 in GAM these days, so that could get us a nice little chunk if we sell one.
It seems like the discrepancy between the ~3.7M I was calculating comes from both the Missing The Playoffs GAM (~200k?), as well as the GAM distribution for NOT having 3 DPs last year (which I think might be able to be rolled over?). So, in a way, going with the 3/3 model last year might have actually got us more GAM this year at the cost of not getting the $2M in U22 discretionary GAM last year
I wrote about this in a thread earlier this week. That is a nice twist in the rule, and one I imagine the front office had in mind in managing a lost, rebuilding season. The GAM provided for the 2/4 model does not roll over, but if a team locks the 3/3 model, there is an additional bit of GAM the teams get for not filling the third DP slot — and that DOES roll over.
Of course, the team may yet do the same thing this year, and leave the 3rd DP slot open,
That Adrian Heath story is going to be a movie one day. Absolutely insane and incredibly quick thinking by his wife and daughter in law. That agent is going to be in hiding for the rest of his life if he’s a broker for kidnappers.
Apparently reigning MLS Defender of the Year Tristan Blackmon is holding out in Vancouver and not reporting for preseason. He wants a pay raise out of the Whitecaps and apparently Miami has made at least one $3 millon bid for him and may have possibly come back with a bigger number after being told no.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6967250/2026/01/14/tristan-blackmon-vancouver-whitecaps-contract-mls-preseason/
Garber will create the Vancouver to Miami exception for any salary cap considerations.
This will happen. Just like another Argentinian coming from Barca.
This league is a joke.
The Sargent saga continues at Norwich.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6965964/2026/01/15/josh-sargent-transfer-saga-norwich-city-toronto-fc-mls/