Defender Bakary Soumare Acquired By Philadelphia Union, According To Report

The Philadelphia Union have acquired veteran defender Bakary Soumare, according to a Fox Sports report on Monday.

Soumare, formerly of the Chicago Fire, was a nominee for the 2008 MLS Defender of the Year after leading a Chicago defense that surrendered only 33 goals in 30 games.

Fox Sports' Ives Galarcep reports that the Union have been after Soumare for more than three months, and that their pursuit of the defender figured into the deal which sent Dan Califf to Chivas USA.

The Union needed to trade with the Vancouver Whitecaps to secure the top spot in the MLS Allocation order, which they used to select Soumare. Per MLS rules, a player who transferred away from the league needs to go through the allocation order if his original team spent the money it received from the transfer.

Soumare, 26, was sold to Boulogne of France's First Division in 2009 for a then-MLS record transfer fee for a defender, $2.1 million.

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