D.C. United announced the signing yesterday of 33-year old Spanish midfielder Carlos Varela, who joins MLS after spending his entire career in the Swiss Super League.
Varela has been training with the club for three weeks now, so they know what they're getting with him. But we the fans sure don't. We've heard he's a winger, but will he be expected to start? Or just to provide backup behind Santino Quaranta and Andy Najar at a position where depth is sorely lacking? Is he here temporarily, or is he here with long-term ambitions? This statement seems to indicate the former.
"We are pleased to have come to an agreement with Carlos for the rest of 2010," said United General Manager Dave Kasper. "He is an experienced midfielder who has excellent attacking qualities, and we look forward to taking a close look at him with a view towards next season."
What worries me about Varela is that this will be the seventh time in his career that he has switched teams. There's got to be a reason for that. The guy has been fairly productive at every stop he's made in Switzerland, but apparently not productive enough for teams to try to keep him around very long.
Anyway, it's nice to see the front office committing some resources to 2010. Hopefully this will help set us up for a better 2011.