CLEARWATER BEACH – D.C. United officials remained mum Tuesday on the imminent acquisition of Yamil Asad, declining to confirm that they have acquired the Argentine midfielder from Atlanta United for $500,000 in financial considerations. Behind the scenes, though, the club was preparing for Asad’s arrival here at training camp in the next 24 hours – one of three moves amid preseason workouts and priceless sunsets in this coastal resort town.
While the Asad deal hinged on final paperwork involving several parties and final approval by MLS , D.C. addressed the back line by acquiring Oniel Fisher from the Seattle Sounders for $50,000 in general allocation money. The Jamaican national team member has made 18 career starts in MLS and will add depth to a defensive corps that had only two other outside backs under contract less than a month before the season opener at Orlando.
In a trade that didn’t involve players, D.C. acquired $337,500 in targeted allocation money from Toronto FC for $225,000 in general allocation money. Such funds are used for, among other things, signing players and offsetting a contract’s impact on the salary cap.
Targeted allocation money is used exclusively on higher-end players, such as Asad, whose cost is substantial when his loan fee and salary are combined.
Asad was an important cog in Atlanta’s high-powered attack last year. Unable to extend his loan from Argentine club Velez Sarsfield, Atlanta agreed to trade his MLS rights to D.C. for a significant package of general and targeted allocation money spread over two years.
D.C. will inherit him on loan from Sarsfield and hold the option to purchase his contract at the end of the 2018 season.
Asad, 23, is a left wing whom United also could deploy elsewhere in the attack. He posted seven goals and 13 assists last year, though those numbers came in one of MLS’s most ferocious lineups. Even with fewer menacing collaborators, D.C. believes Asad will add creativity and influence to a squad that already has undergone several changes since it finished tied for last in the league in scoring in 2017.
With Asad’s arrival, D.C. probably won’t sign another striker – a position of glaring weakness in 2017.
Coach Ben Olsen did not want to comment on the Asad reports, which first bubbled to the surface Monday afternoon. But when asked about United pursuing a midfielder rather than a forward, he said: “We got a striker.” That’s a reference to Darren Mattocks, whom United acquired in a trade with the Portland Timbers this winter.
Mattocks does not have the goal-scoring portfolio that goal-starved D.C. fans demanded, but, Olsen said: “He has a lot of the qualities we’re looking for. He is going to get plenty of opportunity to prove he’s a starter in this league. And he is jazzed for the opportunity.”
D.C. did conduct an international search for a proven goal scorer but came away believing Mattocks was as good as anyone it could afford on the open market.
“The whole world wants forwards,” Olsen said, “but it’s not an easy task within a budget. Time will tell” how the current corps produces. Patrick Mullins, a productive player in 2016 but a bust last year, also will vie for starting minutes.
Asad is among three new D.C. midfielders with Latin American roots, joining Ulises Segura (Costa Rica) and Junior Moreno (Venezuela). They will join a group that was largely assembled during last summer’s signing window with the addition of Hungary’s Zoltan Stieber and Americans Paul Arriola and Russell Canouse.
Luciano Acosta and Ian Harkes also have returned, leaving Olsen with a bounty of options. So where are they all going to play?
Asad can fill multiple slots. Stieber plays on the left and middle. Arriola is best on the right. Acosta is the conductor. Segura, Moreno, Harkes and Canouse play in deep-lying central positions, though Segura also could slide to the right flank.
In other words, Olsen will have the flexibility, depending on the formation, to mix and match over a long season. “They will all be playing with each other at some point,” he said.
D.C. officials have emphasized the importance of creating competition for starting jobs in a league that, by loosening financial constraints, is encouraging teams to acquire players of higher caliber. The days of getting by with 10 or 11 capable starters are in the past, Olsen said.
A congested schedule the second half of the season also will test United’s depth.
As for Fisher, D.C. likes his ability to play on both the left and right side of the back line, though he is strongest on the right. He started nine league matches as a rookie in 2015, two on the 2016 MLS Cup championship squad and seven for last year’s finalists.
For Jamaica, Fisher started four CONCACAF Gold Cup matches last summer and played 90 minutes in a friendly against South Korea on Jan. 30.
Aside from projected starters Taylor Kemp and Nick DeLeon, there were no other wide defenders on the D.C. roster. In training camp, the club is taking a hard look at three candidates for two additional roster slots – John Requejo, Sheanon Williams and Chris Odoi-Atsem – but has not ruled out other options from inside or outside the league.
Odoi-Atsem, a 2017 rookie whose contract option was not exercised, appears to be the front-runner for one contract.
Olsen said he expects to begin trimming the roster after Thursday’s preseason opener against Swedish champion Malmo in Bradenton, Florida.