D.C. United announced today the club has signed 28-year old forward Hamdi Salihi as a Designated Player. The Albanian international has scored 163 goals in 289 professional matches.
"We are thrilled to have completed a deal to bring Hamdi to MLS and D.C. United," said D.C. United General Manager Dave Kasper. "He has one of the most impressive strike rates you'll find and has shown he's capable of scoring goals at every level in which he's played. We believe strongly he will become another important piece for our team and we look forward to seeing him on the field in March."
Salihi was most recently with Rapid Vienna of Austria's top division. During the team's current campaign, he has scored 11 goals in 15 matches (all competitions). In three total years with Rapid Vienna, he has tallied 53 goals in 90 total matches (all competitions).
While at Rapid Vienna, Salihi was a teammate of current United midfielder Branko Boskovic.
Salihi has been a big part of the Albanian national team. He has scored nine goals in 37 senior team matches. In 2011, he scored three goals in ten international games for Albania.
Salihi marks the club's second Designated Player for 2012 and their forth in team history (Luciano Emilio and Christian Gomez were the others).