Where we left off last year
2025 season: 26 points, 15th in the Eastern Conference, 30th in MLS
Wooden Spoon? Check. Midseason coach firing? Check. Midseason chief soccer officer firing? Check. DC United’s 2025 campaign checked just about every box you could ask a despondent MLS team to check. They were a punching bag on the field. Then they hired Erkut Sogut as the team’s new chief soccer officer in September and…well, Sogut has authored a trio of fiction books that unmask the secrets of the football underworld. They also hired Rene Weiler as their new coach. He hasn’t written any books.
With their new sporting leadership in place before the end of last season, DC United could get right to work on a busy offseason.
What changed in the offseason
Notable arrivals:
- Louis Munteanu, ST: Now DC United’s club-record signing, Munteanu joined for a $7 million transfer fee from the top flight of his native Romania. Prized by Sogut for his “movement off the ball” and “tireless work rate,” he doesn’t figure to bring much value on the ball. Will the 23-year-old bring the form that saw him capture the Golden Boot in Romania in the 2024-25 season with him to DC? Color me skeptical, if only because it seems like head coach Rene Weiler fell in love with him in the same way he fell in love with Caden Clark (and then got DC United to trade 700,000 real, American dollars for his services). Munteanu will certainly have some help up top thanks to…
- Tai Baribo, ST: Acquired from the Philadelphia Union in a cashfer that could reach $4.6 million, Baribo brings reliable scoring to the nation’s capital. Across his 3,400 minutes in Philly, the 28-year-old managed 25 goals to go along with dogged pressing. Baribo’s arrival along with another striker in Munteanu signals a two-forward front is coming in DC (and likely some BoomBall right along with it).
