That D.C. United took a chance on bringing Fred back to Washington in the offseason wasn’t a surprise. That they’re letting him go isn’t either, even though it leaves D.C. essentially without a playmaking midfielder since Branko Boskovic is out indefinitely after knee surgery.
The team has announced that Fred – who has zero goals and one assist this season – will move to the Melbourne Heart of Australia on a free transfer next month, confirming what was first reported by FourFourTwo.com in Australia last week.
“When we re-acquired Fred earlier this year, we agreed in principle that we would let him go if he had an opportunity to sign abroad for a better contract,” United general manager Dave Kasper said in a statement. “Fred has been nothing but a professional throughout his time at D.C. United and we have granted his request. The move will also free up significant salary as we look to improve our team during the upcoming transfer window. We thank Fred for his contributions to D.C. United and we wish him the best of luck.”
Interesting, considering Fred might’ve been the most overpaid player on the D.C. roster, at $157,750 this season, hardly the salary expected to be commanded by a player that New England handed to United for a bag of soccer balls (2013 second-round draft pick). That’s a lot to pay for a guy who was essentially considered a reserve when he returned to Washington this offseason, who wanted to move back to the area, who had a house in the area and a brother (Junior Carreiro) on the United roster.
Fred, who initially came to Washington from Australia – having played for the Melbourne Victory, Heart’s crosstown rival – had his best season with D.C. in 2007, when he was a complementary piece alongside Luciano Emilio and Christian Gomez, which allowed him to rack up seven goals and eight assists. He managed only four goals and eight assists over the next two seasons combined. That said, he was still a valuable piece when United threw him in as part of a deal with Peter Nowak and Philadelphia to claim the Union’s spot in the allocation order to re-sign goalkeeper Troy Perkins prior to the 2010 season.
The Union got four goals and an assist out of Fred last year but still allowed him to walk, and the Revolution snapped him up in the second stage of the re-entry draft.
Now that D.C. has let him walk, too, they’ll be hell bent on making a summer transfer splash to help replace him, and the odds have increased that they could try to bring in a playmaker. The recent release of defender Rodrigo Brasesco also reflects their need along the back line.
