Rumor Roundup: Fluminense Friendly and Hamdi Salihi Speculation from Abroad

I hope that all of the denizens of Black and Red United had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to rest up from the the madness that is the end of the season and the beginning of the offseason. I know I needed it to be able to bring you the very best in rumors and speculation about D.C. United this offseason. First, a reminder about my ground rules: I strive to only report rumors that have at least some basis in plausibility. Secondly, I will always post that source of my rumors so that you can evaluate them and tell me if I'm full of crap or not. And finally, if I am tipped off to the rumor by someone else, I will always credit that person. In that vein, if you see a rumor you think looks juicy, feel free to pass it along to me and I will include it and credit you or you can post it as a FanShot.

The first rumor concerns one of my favorite summer pastimes, MLS teams playing midseason friendlies against foreign competition. Next summer, the Brazilian league is expected to have a couple weeks break during their season due to the Confederations Cup; the Brazilian Serie A typically runs from May through December and the Confederations Cup will be played from the 15th to the 30th of June. During this break the current champions of Brazil, Fluminense, are planning to come to the United States and make stops in Orlando and Washington, D.C. Now, there is nothing in the article that mentions any friendlies but it seems like it would be a very good possibility, especially with a Fluminense player, Raphael Augusto, already on loan with United.

The second rumor is not a rumor per se, but some speculation in the Albanian press about the future of Hamdi Salihi at United. Multiple reports out of Salihi's home country are taking Ben Olsen's comments as meaning that he will not be back in D.C. next year. I have not seen any rumors of possible destinations yet, but an Austrian paper recently said that SV Ried, Salihi's team before Rapid Vien, could use a striker like him. If an outside transfer gets his contract off of D.C. United's salary cap, and I think it does, I'm sure the team would be interested in freeing up more cap room for the new striker for which they are looking.