The trade deadline isn’t as major a holiday in Major League Soccer as it is in other American sports, and the summer transfer window usually clicks shut with very little fanfare.
Clubs prefer to make most of their major signings in the offseason, giving new blood a full campaign in which to integrate with new teammates and adjust to MLS’ unorthodox style of play.
The league’s bloated postseason — in contrast to, say, Major League Baseball’s — allows all but the very worst teams to hang within reasonable range of the playoff spots. D.C. United, the eighth-place team in the Eastern Conference, sits just two points back of New England for the East’s sixth-and-final postseason berth.