D.C. United signs Drew Skundrich to MLS deal

The Black-and-Red looked to their USL Championship affiliate to bolster their midfield

D.C. United today announced that midfielder Drew Skundrich, who signed with the club’s USL affiliate Loudoun United this winter, has been signed to an MLS deal. Skundrich, 25, has signed a one-year deal with options for 2022 and 2023.

In a team press release, United president of soccer operations and sporting director Dave Kasper said “We have been impressed with Drew throughout his time with D.C. United in preseason. He has been consistently training with us and already has experience playing in Hernan’s system. Drew is a versatile midfielder and his work rate on the field fits our high tempo playing style. We are excited about Drew joining the Black-and-Red and we’re looking forward to integrating him into the roster ahead of the matches this weekend.”

Skundrich joined the organization back in February, but spent the entire preseason training with a short-handed D.C. United. Even once the season began, Skundrich stayed in training with D.C. rather than joining Loudoun, and did not play in the latter’s USL Championship opener.

Skundrich, who is married to Washington Spirit captain Andi Sullivan, was initially drafted by the LA Galaxy after being a starter for a Stanford Cardinal side that won three straight NCAA titles during his collegiate career. Skundrich eventually signed with Bethlehem Steel FC for the 2018 season, and then spent the next two years starting for Sacramento Republic in the USL Championship.

While Skundrich played mostly as part of the front three in United’s preseason games, his position both at Stanford and as a pro has largely been in central midfield. He joins a United side that only has four natural central midfielders (Russell Canouse, Felipe Martins, Junior Moreno, and Moses Nyeman), and has thus far not had more than three of those midfielders available for any one game.

United now has 31 players on MLS contracts. That’s over the MLS maximum, but still has room to sign Skundrich due to a couple of factors. Jovanny Bolivar is on loan with Loudoun, while Yordy Reyna is on the injured reserve for at least two more games. As such, United had room to sign one more player, and clearly they’ve seen value in Skundrich during his time training with the senior team.

Skundrich will be available to make his debut tomorrow night as United hosts the Chicago Fire.