Philadelphia Union technical director Chris Albright admitted to seeing plenty of value in sending Amobi Okugo to a MLS rival rather than allowing him to leave for Europe.
The 23-year old defensive midfielder was traded to expansion franchise Orlando City SC this week in exchange for allocation money and a second-round pick in the 2016 SuperDraft.
Albright said that Okugo was seeking a move to Europe in the MLs off-season but the Union felt it safer to do a deal with the Lions rather than let him leave for nothing.
"We have had discussions with Amobi and his representation and we knew that he wanted to test Europe," Albright said.
"Frankly, that's a risky proposition when a guy is out of contract and we could come back with nothing in return. So we saw some real value in the deal with Orlando.
"I would say that we're really happy with the money that we got back in the trade and I would say that we have a good amount of flexibility this offseason to go out and continue to add in positions of need."
Okugo joined the Union in their inaugural MLS season in 2010 and went on to make 120 appearances for the Pennsylvania club.
