Union beat the clock, seal deal with Dockal

CHESTER » The offseason shot clock had ticked down to three days, but just before the buzzer, the Philadelphia Union made good on its pledges.

The second of its two-pronged addition strategy came to a belated fruition Wednesday with the signing of Borek Dockal to a oneyear loan deal.

Dockal arrives on loan from Chinese club Henan Jianye, the 29-year-old occupying a designated player spot. The veteran of over 350 professional matches has 35 caps for his country and was acquired by Henan for a 7.65 million transfer fee just a year ago.

In addition, the Union used discretionary Targeted Allocation Money to pay down the salary cap hit to David Accam, the other big offseason addition, so that he no longer occupies a DP spot. It also traded an international spot to New York City FC in exchange for $175,000 in General Allocation Money, a spot freed up by Andre Blake and Ilsinho acquiring green cards and no longer occupying international spots.

“Once we set out in this offseason, we had two main targets that we had, a left outside winger and No. 10, and kind of everyone in the outside world knew that as well,” sporting director Earnie Stewart said. “Once you say those things, people expect you to deliver on them. … I think we’ve added a quality player to our group and everybody’s happy with that.”

Dockal was not with the team Wednesday as he finalizes paperwork. He has had the chance to familiarize himself with the group during their preseason trip to Florida and earlier this week, though he is nursing what manager Jim Curtin called, “a little ankle tweak” that casts more doubt on an already questionable status for this weekend’s opener with New England.

Nonetheless, the Union fulfilled a glaring need and got the player it sought.

“To sign a player that makes all the individuals around him better, which is what a true No. 10 does, is something that we’ve needed, and something that now we have,” Curtin said. “When you add a piece like this, it adds to what CJ Sapong does, it adds to what David Accam does, it improves Fafa Picault, it improves Ale Bedoya, it makes Haris (Medunjanin) now when plays through lines with his incredible passing ability, it’s to a guy who can turn in a tight window in a pocket of space and make the final pass.

“This is a guy who has done it in the Champions League environment, has done it in the national team environment as a captain, and we’re excited to work with him.”

Dockal has played primarily in his home country, debuting with the club of his youth, Slavia Prague. He’s been loaned out to Turkish club Konyaspor and played in Norway with Rosenborg. He won a HET Liga little with Sparta Prague in 2013-14, registering 20 assists in 25 games, then scored 10 goals the following season in the league.