Yordy Reyna Traded to DC United

One of the Vancouver Whitecaps’ longest tenured players is finally on his way out of town. Early Saturday morning, the club announced that the Peruvian would be on his way to DC United for 400,000 dollars in general allocation money.

“We thank Yordy for his four years with the club,” said Axel Schuster, Whitecaps FC CEO and Sporting Director. “We’re pleased we were able to arrange a deal that is best for both the club as well as Yordy. The Allocation Money we’re getting in return will help us add quality to our roster next season, while Yordy gets a good opportunity for a fresh start. We wish him the best at D.C. United.”

Having played for the Whitecaps since 2017, Reyna made 86 total club appearances, registering 21 goals and 17 assists. In the event D.C. United signs Reyna to a new contract or he is traded or transferred this year or in 2021, Vancouver will receive additional compensation. Reyna’s current contract concludes at the end of this season.

“Acquiring Yordy Reyna from Vancouver has been on our radar for a while now,” Dave Kasper, D.C. United General Manager and VP of Soccer Operations, said. “In his three seasons in Major League Soccer, he has shown the quality and goal scoring ability to make a real impact in this league. He’s also joining us with a rich international soccer background after featuring regularly with the Peru National Team. We are getting a true attacking talent and we look forward to him bolstering our attack as we push for a playoff spot in 2020.”

For a player nearing the end of his contact, the return is not terrible for the Whitecaps. What does make this look like a worse business deal though, is the fact that the Whitecaps also sent an international spot to DC United (worth about 150K) and that had the Whitecaps moved Reyna before the season, or even last year, the return would have been much higher.

In addition to poor form, a big part of Reyna’s diminished value came down to off-field incidents, such as the Andy Livingstone Park saga, and showing up late for team events to the point of being dropped from the lineup in Toronto a few weeks ago. It’s frustrating to see a player with so much talent moved on in such an unceremonious way, but at the same time, Yordy never really fit into Marc Dos Santos’ system quite the way he wanted, and the Whitecaps can’t afford one of their most impactful TAM players being so dreadfully inconsistent (both on and off the pitch).

I would surmise that Reyna’s interest in singing for DC United after this season would be very low, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Reyna is on the move to South America, or one of the middle-tier leagues in Europe for 2021. This is still a player with a lot to offer, and hopefully he can find some consistency elsewhere.

What are your thoughts on the trade? Let us know in the comments.