Two stages of Major League Soccer’s re-entry draft have come and gone, and D.C. United has itself two new forwards.
A week after selecting modestly priced Joseph Ngwenya in stage one of the first-of-its-kind draft of veteran players, United made a bigger splash on Wednesday by selecting U.S. national team veteran Josh Wolff with the first pick in stage two.
Wolff was made available in the draft process after the Kansas City Wizards did not exercise his contract option. He agreed to a new one-year contract with D.C. United with a club option for 2012.
“As a player and as a person, Josh is someone who will help us,” said United coach Ben Olsen, who played with Wolff on the U.S. World Cup team in 2006. “He has been around this league, and he knows what it takes to be a professional. I know he will help guide our young guys and show them what is needed to have long and successful careers.”
The 5-foot-9, 160-pound Wolff, who has always been known for his speed in the attack, has nine goals in 52 appearances for the United States, which he also represented in the 2002 World Cup and the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Originally drafted out of South Carolina by Chicago in 1998, Wolff was traded in 2003 to Kansas City, which retained his MLS rights while he spent the better part of two seasons between late 2006 and 2008 with German Bundesliga club 1860 Munich. Wolff returned to Kansas City in 2008 and scored a career-high 11 goals in 2009.
