United obtained him on a season-long loan from Buenos Aires club Boca Juniors. He is the second Argentine to arrive this winter on loan from an Argentine team: A deal for Estudiantes midfielder Lucas Rodriguez was completed last month.

Jara, 27, has years of top-level experience in the Argentine league and Copa Libertadores, the prestigious South American club championship. In the most recent Copa competition, he started the first leg of the finals against archrival River Plate and entered the second leg as a substitute.

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Overall, Jara has appeared in 172 first-division matches (141 starts) with Estudiantes and Boca Juniors.

Jara is a former teammate of Rodriguez and United playmaker Luciano Acosta when all played for Estudiantes in 2015. Through scouting ties in Argentina, United has had its eye on Jara for quite some time.

The urgency to add him rose this winter as D.C. sought a starting right back. The club did not renew the contract option of last season’s primary starter, Nick DeLeon, who subsequently signed with Toronto FC.

The other key figure, Oniel Fisher, is recuperating from major knee surgery and will not return until the summer. For depth, United selected Akeem Ward from Creighton University in the first round of the MLS draft this month.

With the Jara deal done, United seems likely to turn attention to acquiring a forward to back up English star Wayne Rooney. The club has also been in the market for another central defender.

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>> Goalkeeper David Ousted, whose stock dropped when United reacquired Bill Hamid last summer, was waived by the club over the weekend and claimed by the Chicago Fire.

Because Ousted had a guaranteed contract, United remained responsible for about $250,000 of his estimated $400,000 salary in 2019. Instead of leaving that figure on its payroll — and feeling the impact on the salary cap — United’s investors have agreed to buy out the balance, one source said. By doing so, United no longer has any trace of Ousted’s contract on its books.

MLS allows teams to buy out one guaranteed deal per offseason. In those cases, individual teams must shell out the cash instead of the league, which, under its single-entity business structure, pays most contracts.

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Ousted’s departure also frees an international slot on United’s roster.

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Ousted (17 starts in 2018) became expendable this winter when United traded with the Houston Dynamo for veteran Chris Seitz and with Orlando City for Earl Edwards Jr.

>> The club announced the hiring of former D.C. midfielder Richie Williams as the first head coach of Loudoun United, the organization’s second-division team. His imminent appointment was first reported by the Insider on Friday.

Williams, 48, played for United from 1996 to 2000 and returned in 2001. He was a member of three MLS Cup championship squads and was inducted into the club’s Hall of Tradition in 2011.

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Since retiring, Williams has been an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Virginia; served as an assistant and interim head coach of the New York Red Bulls; guided the U.S. under-17 and under-18 national teams; assisted at Real Salt Lake; and most recently was a U.S. national team assistant for two years.

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Williams said, “We have a new opportunity to develop players, identify prospects in an area that’s rich with soccer talent while also competing at a high level” in the United Soccer League’s second tier, known as the USL Championship.

Williams will have to hit the ground running. The debut is March 9 at Nashville, and at the moment, the only players who might suit up for the new club are prospects in D.C. United camp.

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The Loudoun side will ultimately play home matches at a 5,000-seat stadium in Leesburg. Until construction is completed, however, the team will play the first six home games at venues to be determined.

>> United this winter has signed two homegrown prospects to senior contacts — Maryland’s Donovan Pines and William & Mary’s Antonio Bustamante — and is taking a serious look at Griffin Yow, 16, from Clifton, Va., who has scored 21 goals in 39 academy matches the past two seasons. He is a member of the U.S. under-17 national team program (two goals in three appearances last year).

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“He’s certainly on our radar,” Coach Ben Olsen said. ...