With Darren Mattocks in fine form with eight goals so far this season, D.C. United striker Patrick Mullins was finding it tough to get minutes on the field. With Wayne Rooney in town, it was going to be even tougher for Mullins. But it now appears that Mullins, who joined the Black-and-Red nearly two years ago, is on his way out, in a trade with Columbus Crew SC.
Taylor Twellman originally reported that Mullins was likely to be on the move to the Crew early on Wednesday afternoon. Then, a bit later, Andrew Erickson, from the Columbus Dispatch, added a bit more info to that rumor, saying the trade would be for $150k in Targeted Allocation Money.
Can confirm, per source, that deal is done and Mullins is headed to #CrewSC. D.C. gets $150k TAM. Deal to be announced in the near future. https://t.co/6cgK8fvP0s
— Andrew Erickson (@AEricksonCD) July 11, 2018
Mullins, who United traded for in July of 2016, started his tenure with United on fire, scoring 8 goals in 14 games in the second half of that season. With Mullins and Lloyd Sam in the mix, United went from being toothless to becoming the top-scoring side in the league over the last three months of the season.
However, last season, Mullins was plagued by two different injuries. He was limited to just 20 appears, only 12 of which were starts. The former Maryland Terrapin scored five goals, but four of those came in a September romp over the San Jose Earthquakes, and he followed that up by scoring in the next game against the New York Red Bulls.
During the offseason, United added Mattocks in a trade with the Portland Timbers. Mattocks quickly won the starting job, and has already set a career high with his eight goals through the team’s first 14 games. Mullins did not register a goal in 10 appearances this year, two of which were starts. He had only one shot, which came in his start against the Crew in April.
Mullins had one assist this year, helping Yamil Asad score his second goal against Toronto FC in last month’s thrilling 4-4 tie.