Indonesian Rumor Roundup: D.C. United to open a "semi-academy" and play a winter tour?

New rumors are flowing out of Indonesia and so I bring them from their fingers to your eyes. Just remember, we are not yet totally sure how Indonesian media fits into the spectrum of trustworthiness in rumors. All I know is that, for now, they are still more trustworthy than Central American sports rumors, who like to use their pieces to suggest moves for teams.

The first rumor out of Indonesia is that D.C. United will be starting a "semi-academy" in order to try and help identify and develop young players. I have no proof of this whatsoever, but I fully believe that this "semi-academy" is being funded completely out of Erick Thohir's pocket and he is just using D.C. United's branding and methods to give it a loftier air. In the same article, Thohir commends the job that United has done in developing young players and that, in the future, the team's international spots will continue to be filled by young players.

Another rumor should be familiar to readers of this site, as it first appeared right after Thohir bought the team: United is rumored to be going on a winter tour to Indonesia. The tour would take place in mid-December and would feature United playing games against four Indonesian teams. I am not a huge fan of flying the team halfway across the world to play games during one of their two months of real rest of the entire year, but to me this might actually be preferable to the summer friendlies. With the schedule as packed as it is already, money grab games in the middle of the year have to be the highest level of opponent or they just aren't worth the extra wear and tear on the players.

Finally, D.C. United is rumored to be "signing" two U-18 Indonesian players. I would think that this "signing" would be more along the lines of allowing them to train with the Academy or, at the very most, allowing them to play with the U-23 team. As long as they can get over here, I'm fine with random Indonesian players getting to train with various levels of the team's structure. It gives the players a good experience, doesn't cost the team anything, and allows them to continue to build their brand in Southeast Asia.

As always, I will keep you up to date as more whispers reach my ears.