Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Union deal Heerbers’ rights to Chicago
For a season straight offseason, the Union and Chicago Fire hammered out a trade involving a winger with sports hernia issues. This one is a little less attention-grabbing.
The Union picked up the Fire’s natural secondround pick in January’s MLS SuperDraft, pick No. 29 overall, in exchange for the rights to winger Fabian Herbers during Sunday’s half-day trade window following MLS Cup.
Herbers was the sixth overall pick in the 2016 SuperDraft. He had a stellar rookie season with three goals and seven assists in 32 matches but has failed to duplicate that effort since. An injury-plagued 2017 season saw him score once and pick up two assists in 12 games (four starts) before sports hernia surgery shut him down.
Herbers was barely retained last year by the Union, only after denying his rookie contract option and negotiating a more club-friendly arrangement. He started the first three games of 2018 on the wing with Fafa Picault suspended but did little to stake his claim. For the season, he made five starts and appeared in nine games without scoring.
“On behalf of the Philadelphia Union, we’d like to thank Fabian for his service to the club and wish him well in Chicago,” Union sporting director Ernst Tanner said in a team statement. “We believe this trade is best for both Fabian as well as the Union at this time.”
Herbers is out of contract options after the Union declined an option on him two weeks ago, joining fellow 2016 SuperDraft pick Josh Yaro, the No. 2 overall pick that year, in being freed to find new opportunities.
On draft day last year, the Union sent more than $1 million to Chicago for David Accam. The Ghanaian winger scored just one goal this season before a sports hernia operation ended his season in September.
The 2019 SuperDraft will take place in Chicago on Jan. 11. The Union own picks 13, 29 and 37 in the first two rounds, as well as 61 and 85 in the second part of the draft, which will take place the following week.