Veron Re-Enters with DC United

Every year you have some hope that the Red Bulls will improve the roster and make additions that will help mix in with the current talent on the club. At the same time as you also hope that they are well aware that keeping certain players on the roster that are important to the cause which is of course to win a championship of some kind every year.

At the end of this season you knew that some players were going to remain and some were going to be allowed to leave or let go. We said goodbye to Mike Grella in the first round of the Re-Entry Draft and on Thursday, December 21 we sadly say goodbye to another player in the second round of the Re-Entry Draft.

The New York Red Bulls bitter rivals and number one rival Gonzalo Veron was claimed by DC United as well as his rights to try and sign him to a new contract after Sporting Director Denis Hamlett declined his option and tried to re-work a new deal.

As we can see those attempts have failed and Veron is now with DC United. While reading the article from the Washington Post & DC United beat writer Steven Goff Gonzalo Veron does have some aspirations to play abroad and DC is going to try to lower the $500,000 mark he made this season with the Red Bulls.

But overall this was a gamble that the Red Bulls lost and while he was prone to injury last season and the start of this past season, when healthy he was coming off the bench and spot starting to give Bradley Wright-Phillips a break.

He scored some important goals in the 2017 US Open Cup Semi-Finals when RBNY was down 2-0 to FC Cincinnati to spark a comeback victory in Extra Time, he converted important penalties to level the match at home against NYCFC.

You saw him getting more comfortable during the 2017 season , looked dangerous and the hope was that he was probably going to do something important for 2018 and maybe be injury free.

Yet the club took the gamble during this current off-season and sadly they lost as now whether DC United is successful of establishing a new contract with Veron, they are going to move on without him.

Now the real question will be of the rumors going around that Sacha Kljestan will be traded to LAFC, will they halt those talks and bring him back to the club? Because at this moment in time there are questions with the roster.

Seeing the likes of Stefano Bonomo and Florian Valot getting a chance to be with the big side, some inconsistency's with Derrick Etienne in his first full year and no answers if Vincent Bezecourt has a new deal with the club the quality has been lowered.

Will we see the full potential of Alex Muyl this season and can he truly become a difference maker? Is this the last we have seen of Kemar Lawrence either making a move to Europe or just finishing out his full final year of his contract, we don’t know.

Who will feed the ball to Bradley Wright-Phillips? Who is attacking down the flanks? Will someone get shoehorned out of position just so the press will still look dangerous and in another wacky formation?

Even though the financials will always get in the way of seeing who stays and who goes the truth is that Veron should’ve stayed and maybe declining the option was the correct move, now it looks like there is a problem. The only player who has matured quickly is Tyler Adams and so far the rumors are flying around of clubs from Europe wanting him to transfer over after his first rookie season.

This is a dangerous move right now by the club at a time where the young prospects are getting a chance to perform at the highest level of American Club Soccer, the truth is that it needs to come very quickly or else the potential of this upcoming season is in dire straights so Hamlett and Marsch need to bring in those targets that they know can mix in quickly and in a hurry.

The first magnifying glass/spotlight moment is a two legged date with Honduran side CD Olimpia and they won’t be forgiving as they want a head on their wall in CONCACAF Champions League action this coming end of February.