D.C. United and Cristian Fernandez mutually terminate contract.

While the large speculation was what D.C. United would do without Fabian Espindola Saturday against the Seattle Sounders, a less reported aspect of the lineup which was not learned until late was that left back Cristian Fernandez was not only not starting, but not even in the lineup. Now we know the reasons why as the team and the player have agreed to part ways.

This comes on the heels of rumors of Fernandez possibly returning to his longtime club Racing Santander, currently in Group 1 of the Segunda Division in Spain (the third division of Spanish soccer). In speaking with Sergio Gutierrez (previous of the now-defunct FutbolMLS.net but also provided some excellent intel on Fernandez when DC signed him) says that not only was there contact between Racing and Fernandez shortly after D.C.'s 4-2 win over the Montreal Impact, but that Fernandez turned it down. However, he could not rule out the possibility of Racing improving their offer, and as we know, there is some recent precedent when it comes to D.C. acquiring an outside back, only to allow him to return to Europe for a bunch of money.

Where does this leave D.C.? Well, get used to Chris Korb and Taylor Kemp playing at left back for one thing, and this may increase the possibility of homegrown player Jalen Robinson seeing some time with the senior club. And with 10 games over the course of two months (starting with Saturday's game against Toronto FC), the number of outside back permutations before the introduction of any new players into the mix will be...interesting.