D.C. United acquire Bill Hamid from FC Midtjylland

D.C. United announced the acquisition of Bill Hamid on a permanent transfer from Danish club FC Midtjylland earlier today. Per United, the deal is a three-year pact following an 18-month loan from the Danish side, and the team used Targeted Allocation Money in the transfer. Steven Goff of the Washington Post reports the transfer fee to be around $750,000.

The goalkeeper, who turned 29 two weeks ago, made $461,820 in base salary last year, and joins Steven Birnbaum, Yamil Asad and Ola Kamara as TAM players for the Black-and-Red. In his first full season at United’s permanent home, he played and started 33 of the team’s 34 games, registering career highs in games, minutes (2970) and shutouts (14). Hamid finished second in this year’s MLS Goalkeeper of the Year voting to Minnesota United’s Vito Mannone.

Hamid left the team at the end of the 2017 season for Midtylland, where he could not crack the starting lineup due to the play of incumbent Jesper Hansen. He returned to D.C. on loan in the summer of 2018, appearing and starting in 14 games and registering five shutouts.

In a team release, United’s general manager Dave Kasper said that bringing Hamid back “was a top priority for us this offseason,” before adding that “he is among the best goalkeepers in MLS and and he resonates with fans and the community, and we know he is going to be an important piece at the club for the foreseeable future.”

Welcome back, Bill!