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D.C. United selected University of Maryland forward Christiano Francois in the Major League Soccer waiver draft, according to the player's Facebook page. Francois signed a contract with Major League Soccer after the SuperDraft, which meant that he would be made available through a waiver draft rather than any of the myriad of other player acquisition methods. As friend of the site Travis Clark said on Twitter, Francois would have been a top ten pick in the draft based on his 2012 form. However, academic problems due to his language barrier have prevented him from becoming academically eligible. For more information about Francois' background and life in Haiti, read Steve Goff's excellent piece.
For a team that did not have many draft picks at the start of SuperDraft day, United has put together a good crop of young players. Francois is a small, fast forward who both scored goals and provided assists in his freshman season at Maryland. It seems like he would project to be a winger in MLS, but I could also see a player with his skillset developing into a second forward as well. However, he has only played a few matches for the Baltimore Bohs in USL PDL since his 2012 freshman season, so expectations should be low for his production this season.
He has already signed a contract with Major League Soccer, so there will be no need for negotiations and it seems highly unlikely that he would be cut from the team in the preseason. Being from Haiti, he will also occupy one of the team's international roster spots. However, that also means that he will occupy a roster spot that could otherwise go to a trialist or one of the later-round draft picks, so competition for those spots will be fierce.
