In an unsettled offseason featuring an expansion draft and the selection of the club's new head coach, the future remains murky for the striker who has served as the spearhead of the D.C. United attack over the past three years.United's leading scorer ever since his arrival from Honduran side CD Olimpia in 2007, Luciano Emilio will soon be out of contract and is contemplating his options in the wake of a campaign defined by frustration for him and his D.C. teammates. He and his family have flown home to Brazil this week and the 30-year-old expects to open negotiations with United sometime after Thanksgiving, once the club picks a new head coach.Emilio has been encouraged by the tone of preliminary discussions with D.C. president Kevin Payne and general manager Dave Kasper, but like so many other aspects of United's 2010 plans, much remains up in the air at this point."We have to wait until the coach is here, then we sit together and speak about the new year. But Dave and Kevin told me that they want to speak about negotiations for the new contract and they expect that I stay here for many years," said Emilio on Friday. "They have the option for the new year but we've got to speak about the option after Nov. 25."While stressing that United takes first priority, the Brazilian target man revealed that he has been the subject of interest from abroad. Early last year, Emilio drew interest from Morelia of the Mexican Primera and he spent part of 2005 with Queretaro, helping the central Mexican side win the second division's clausura title. He admits to being intrigued at the prospect of returning to one of the most competitive leagues in the Western Hemisphere. "I have this opportunity to go to Japan," he said, "but Mexico actually for me is more interesting, because of the level in this league. And I had an opportunity to go a couple years ago, to Morelia, and D.C. picked my option up and I couldn't go there in that time. Actually, I like Mexican soccer."After notching MLS Most Valuable Player and Newcomer of the Year honors in a superb debut season that featured a league-leading 20 goals, Emilio was rewarded with designated-player status last May and he was United's highest-paid player in '09. But the pay raise ramped up expectations dramatically and despite contributing 54 goals in all competitions since joining D.C., the man once dubbed "Luchigol" by the United faithful was sometimes singled out for criticism as an underachiever over the course of a 2009 season that saw the Black-and-Red fall short in both domestic and international play.Yet Emilio denies that higher wages affected his mentality and points to the overall inconsistency that plagued United throughout a long, grinding campaign."Always, all my life, I had pressure to score goals and be [leading] goalscorer. It's normal for me," he said. "I think we have a big problem as a team and that affected everybody -- we couldn't play good for a long time, we were up, down, up, down, up, down. It was very difficult for everybody and it actually wasn't a good year for the whole team."Emilio also acknowledged his frustration with the constant lineup rotations Soehn employed in an effort to keep his side fresh amidst the rigors of CONCACAF, MLS and U.S. Open Cup competition."I've never seen in all my life a situation like that," said Emilio. "We made a mistake because we didn't give continuity to the players. That's why we could never win many games consecutively. I think every team has to play as much as they can with the same players. You can make some changes but not a lot, because the team, if it plays like this all the time, loses [its] identity."Identity is something very important for each team, and if we don't have identity -- a first XI or something like this -- we can't keep the same level for the whole season. I think this was a big problem for us."United's roster could undergo a host of changes this winter. Veteran midfielder Ben Olsen has scheduled a press conference to "address his playing career" on Tuesday afternoon and other departures seem likely as D.C. look to reverse a skid of two straight seasons without a playoff appearance. Despite the aforementioned interest from abroad, Emilio says he hopes to remain in Washington, but recognizes that few at the capital club can take their places for granted."I think stability is good," said Emilio with regards to a potential move overseas. "If we don't agree for the next season, I will take this option. But we've got to speak with D.C. United first and speak about my future, and I have to respect D.C. United because they have priority, on my contract and to speak with me. We try to figure out the situation before Dec. 1."
