Our friends at Once a Metro first mentioned this last week, and we were actually going to mention their report this Monday as part of Freedom Kicks more as a community service than anything else. Now, word from BN Television in Serbia is saying that Inter Milan defender Nemanja Vidic is not only coming to Washington to play for D.C. United next summer, but might already be in talks with the team.
There are a myriad of reasons why this would be a bad idea: First, Vidic has not played since having surgery last month on a slipped disc, and may take three more months to recover. Second, the report makes mention of him coming over to play next summer, which would put him a couple months shy of his 35th birthday, and I'll presume any deal to bring Vidic over to MLS would be of the multiyear variety. Third, center back would seem to be one of the few positions where D.C. United could boast a surplus, with Bobby Boswell, Steve Birnbaum, Kofi Opare and Markus Halsti spending minutes there this season, to say nothing of those who have played in the US Open Cup or CONCACAF Champions League competitions. And fourth, did I mention he'd be almost 35 next summer? Bobby Boswell, currently the team's oldest center back, would give 18 months in age to Vidic, who, in case I didn't mention it, would be coming back from back surgery.
But hey, it's not like Erick Thohir has foisted a strange personnel move onto Dave Kasper and Ben Olsen before, right?