The offseason is barely open and the Black-and-Red have had their names attached to some guys already.
It’s been barely 36 hours since New York City FC put the Portland Timbers away to secure their first MLS Cup, and D.C. United has been linked to two players for possible moves, trials or whatnot. So let’s take a look at both of these.
The first is for Luis Mejia. The 30-year-old goalkeeper has been playing in his second stint with Centro Atletico Fenix in Uruguay, sandwiching a five-year tour with Nacional. In addition, Mejia is a starter with Panama’s national team, having appeared in the team’s November World Cup Qualifiers against El Salvador and Honduras.
Given a semi-reputable spot professionally, to have a guy a year younger than Bill Hamid (who is 31 in ‘today you are old’ news) come in and take a backup role when Europe (in this case, Cyprus) calling with a better opportunity and weather, well, let’s put this one as dubious.
The other is a little murky. A report from Argentina last week says that D.C. United has been monitoring Gimnasia La Plata winger Eric Ramirez over the last few months. Ramirez has been playing with Los Triperos as a forward, but in a recent interview said he can play either side of the wing as well as a number 9. His most recent appearance to close out GELP’s fall campaign was a 66-minute start where he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over San Lorenzo.
After six seasons where he played more than ten games twice with Los Triperos (including a loan stint with Quilmes), Ramirez had a breakout season of sorts, with three goals and three assists this year via Transfermarkt. The 25-year-old Ramirez appears to be a late bloomer, as his 27 games (17 starts) and 1,481 minutes account for almost a third of his career totals at the moment. The report lists that Ramirez, a 25-year-old from Gimnasia La Plata, has a contract that expires next summer, and the decision to extend him remains unknown at the moment; teams are allowed to begin negotiations for Ramirez’ services at the beginning of next month.
While this report is in the “monitoring” stages (Ramirez’ coach was not aware of any offers for him in comments Thursday), it should be noted that D.C. Scouting Director Sean Howe was in Brazil checking out games recently, so the Black-and-Red do appear to be looking South (perhaps past Atlanta United) for reinforcements.
And there’s that sizzle reel: