D.C. United continued refurbishing its attack Tuesday, acquiring Ecuadoran national team forward Michael Estrada on a season-long loan from Mexican club Toluca.
It also comes as the club weighs trade offers for striker Ola Kamara, MLS’s co-leading scorer last season who is in the final year of his contract.
“Bolstering our attack has been a priority for us in the offseason, and we’ve been closely monitoring the possibility of bringing Michael to the club,” Dave Kasper, United’s president of soccer operations, said in a statement. “He is a dangerous [striker] who we believe will be a great addition to our attacking unit.”
Estrada, 25, is Ecuador’s leading scorer in South America’s World Cup qualifying tournament with six goals. Last week, he scored early in a 1-1 draw with Peru, helping his country remain on pace for one of the group’s four automatic berths in Qatar late this year.
While he has excelled for his country, Estrada has struggled with Toluca this season, failing to score in 16 appearances (six starts). Last season, in 37 matches, he was second on the team with 11 goals.
United will probably use targeted allocation money to soften Estrada’s impact on the salary cap, leaving open a place for a big-ticket signing, known as a designated player. Each team is allowed three DPs; Fountas and Edison Flores occupy two slots.
United intends to acquire a third, either in the coming weeks or during MLS’s summer signing window.
Fountas is not scheduled to arrive until the summer window, at which point United will have played half the season. The club, though, is attempting to reach a deal with Rapid Vienna that would allow him to move in March.
Assuming Kamara is traded, Coach Hernán Losada would probably partner Estrada and Fountas in the starting lineup and use returning forward Nigel Robertha as the primary backup. Losada has yet to discuss tactical plans, but the offseason moves suggest a two-man front line. Last year, he typically used one striker and two wings.
Flores seems likely to fill a playmaking role in central midfield.
Estrada’s “capacity to break lines with his pace and power, as well as his ability to drop-in and link-up play fits perfectly into our style of play and our profile for a player in this position,” United General Manager Lucy Rushton said in a statement.
Kamara’s departure would free budget space to bolster the defensive midfield, which, at the moment, is thin. Russell Canouse and Moses Nyeman, 18, are the primary candidates. Júnior Moreno is out of contract and unlikely to return, and free agent Felipe Martins signed with Austin FC.
United is also deep in talks with defender Andy Najar about renegotiating his contract, which paid him $100,000 last year and was due to expire after this season. On the cusp of retirement last winter, Najar returned to United after nine years elsewhere and enjoyed a sensational campaign.
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