Dwayne De Rosario once scored the game-winning goal in an MLS Cup at RFK Stadium. Now he’ll call that stadium home after a blockbuster trade Monday brought the five-time MLS all-star and Best XI selection and four-time MLS Cup winner and two-time MLS Cup MVP to D.C. United from New York in exchange for midfielder Dax McCarty.
United (4-5-6) was in sore need of a central playmaker following a season-ending knee injury suffered by Branko Boskovic and the announcement that Fred would transfer to Australia in mid-July. But D.C.’s interest in De Rosario, who has 80 career MLS goals and 56 assists, started last winter, when United tried to acquire the Canadian native from Toronto FC. De Rosario was traded from his hometown to the Red Bulls in April, and has registered two goals and four assists in 13 games since.
“I reached out to [Red Bulls general manager] Erik Soler about a month ago and have had ongoing conversations with New York, and really Dax was the player that worked on their end,” United general manager Dave Kasper said. “Dwayne was a guy that we talked about getting and we’ve wanted. We’ve gotten a very good attacking player, and we’re really excited about it.”no
De Rosario, who led Houston to the second of consecutive MLS Cups in 2007 at RFK – he also won titles with the same franchise in San Jose in 2001 and ’03 – can play as an attacking midfielder or withdraw second forward. In either case, he offers an offensive upgrade from McCarty, who had struggled to become an adequate two-way option since D.C. acquired him from Portland in exchange for defender Rodney Wallace and a 2011 fourth-round draft pick in November after McCarty had been left unprotected by 2011 MLS Cup finalist FC Dallas.
Reached by phone, McCarty declined comment.
De Rosario, who is under contract and has a player option for 2012, will earn $493,750 this season, but United will be responsible for a significantly smaller portion of his salary cap figure.
“In the situation with Dwayne, the budget number we’re getting him at is very attractive,” Kasper said. “There’s quite a bit of cap being held.”
In fact, according to sources and reports, much of that figure is still held by Toronto.
D.C. United also boosted its injury-plagued back line with the acquisition of San Jose defender Brandon McDonald, a fourth-year player who spent time in the U.S. national team camp in January 2010, in exchange for allocation money.
