United pursuing former MLS All-Star

D.C. United coach Ray Hudson said he is interested in pursuing former Major League Soccer All-Star Dante Washington.

Washington, a native of Columbia, Md., was a salary-cap casualty of the Columbus Crew in the preseason. Last month, he joined the A-League’s Virginia Beach Mariners and is leading the league in scoring with four goals and an assist in four games.

United (0-2-3) has scored three goals in five games this season. Washington, a powerful target forward, scored 52 goals with 29 assists in seven MLS seasons. Hudson said United has been interested in obtaining Washington during the past two seasons.

“We were talking to him, we just couldn’t quite get the figures sorted out [last season],” Hudson said. “He certainly could be an interesting proposition now, for sure. Things have got to start to change a little bit. We might have to make a sacrifice to potentially get that sort of player.”

Washington was a 1992 Olympian, a two-time NCAA scoring leader at Radford, and has six caps with the U.S. national team.

Meanwhile, U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena intends to call up six players from D.C. United for the May26 U.S. exhibition against Wales at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, Calif. United forwards Earnie Stewart and Santino Quaranta, midfielders Bobby Convey and Ben Olsen, defender Mike Petke and goalkeeper Nick Rimando will be called in for the Memorial Day friendly.