MLS Looking to Sign Luis Fabiano?

Reports out of Brazil, first tweeted by Phil Schoen, are that MLS is negotiating with Sao Paolo over the acquisition of forward Luis Fabiano. While currently at Sao Paolo, he also played in 149 matches for Sevilla of La Liga, scoring 72 goals; he also has earned 44 caps for the Brazilian National Team, with 28 goals. United States Men's National Team fans may remember him from the 2009 Confederations Cup, in which he scored two goals and won the golden boot for that tournament.

At age 32, Fabiano seems to be more in the Robbie Keane part of his career rather than the Rafa Marquez stage of his career. This is the kind of designated player that MLS wants and that is why they are trying to get him. The current reports say that MLS is looking to avoid a transfer fee, but with Fabiano apparently signed until 2015, that looks unlikely. Some team is going to have to give some serious money to Sao Paolo is they want to pry him away, as Sao Paulo paid Sevilla over 7 million euros to bring him back.

However, you are probably asking yourself what this has to do with D.C. United. Just yesterday Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated tweeted that Ben Olsen and his staff were going to South America to look at some specific designated player targets; and then today comes out the news that MLS is in talks with a well known South American player who would currently command DP money. Sure, this could turn out to be nothing, especially with the price that this deal will command; in fact, it is very likely to turn out to be nothing, as Olsen is going to Argentina first on his South American trip. However, Fabiano is everything and more that Salijoy could possibly be and the new ownership at least allows us fans to dream of a world where D.C. United could afford such a player.

And since no rumored player post would be complete without it, I give you two of many YouTube highlight videos for Fabiano: