Just before the closing of the international transfer window on Friday, D.C. United completed a loan deal with Brazilian club Fluminenze to bring 21-year old midfielder Raphael Augusto to MLS.
Augusto has most recently been playing for America-RN of the Brazilian Serie B, but has also played multiple matches with the Fluminenze first team in Brazil's top league. The young midfielder also has some national team experience with Brazil's U-20 team.
The transfer was partially made possible due to the assistance of Virginia congressman Jim Moran, who helped push through a green card application for Maicon Santos. With Santos no longer requiring an international roster spot, the door was opened for Augusto to join the team.
Judging from the below video highlights, Augusto appears to be an aggressive attacking midfielder with some ball skills and a good passing range. Its certainly a good sign that he was wearing the No. 10 jersey in some of the highlights. For quite a while now we've been hoping to see United add a young player who can fill the central attacking midfield role as a reserve, and ultimately maybe take over for Branko Boskovic and Dwayne De Rosario down the road. Obviously we'll hold off on judgment until we see him play, but Augusto might be that guy.