MLS player transfers: D.C. United acquires Costa Rican forward Jairo Arrieta from Orlando City

D.C. United announced this morning that they had traded an international roster slot to Orlando City SC (for the second time this offseason) in exchange for Costa Rican forward Jairo Arrieta. OCSC had acquired Arrieta from Columbus Crew SC in last month's expansion draft after the forward had dropped down Gregg Berhalter's depth chart in C-Bus. Arrieta is a shifty sort of forward, using more guile and smarts than raw physical gifts to find pockets of space. Even as his playing time diminished in Columbus, he found ways onto the score sheet as a substitute, and throughout his time in MLS, he always seemed to score against DC.

Arrieta looks to figure in United's Champions League quarterfinal series against CD Alajuelense, a club he should be intimately familiar with after his time at Saprissa, one of CDA's biggest domestic rivals. He could also play a role alongside either Luis Silva or Eddie Johnson early in the MLS league campaign while the Black-and-Red's top forward from last season, Argentine Fabian Espindola serves a six-game suspension.

All that said, I don't think anybody around here had "31-year-old forward" at or near the top of United's off-season target list, so the move comes as somewhat more of a surprise than the signing of Finnish midfielder Markus Halsti earlier this week.

Take to the comments to let us know your initial reaction to the trade.