Philadelphia Union send defender Califf to Chivas USA for midfielder Lahoud

The Philadelphia Union announced on Thursday that they have sent defender and former captain Danny Califf to Chivas USA for midfielder Michael Lahoud and allocation money. Per club and league policy, specific terms of the deal were not disclosed to the media.

"We want to thank Danny Califf for his contributions to the Union on and off the field and wish him well in his career,” said Team Manager Peter Nowak.  “In Michael Lahoud we are getting another young versatile player who we believe will have an opportunity to establish himself as a Union player while helping us achieve our goals throughout the season.”

Chivas USA head coach Robin Fraser is excited by the proposition of adding Califf, a player who he feels will provide immediate support for his backline, especially with Heath Pearce being traded to New York earlier on Wednesday.

“Obviously, losing Heath, our thoughts were to acquire a center back and we had the ability to get Danny Califf who’s a player who has played in a lot of places, he has some good experiences, he’s a very experienced and hard-nosed defender and again, as we said, to get an asset you have to give up an asset and the cost for this one was Michael [Lahoud],” commented Fraser. “Certainly Michael has been here for a while and we wish him the best and thank him for all that he did while he was here.”

Califf, 32, is a veteran of over a decade of club service with the Los Angeles Galaxy, San Jose Earthquakes and AaB, among others. He has also been capped by the U.S. national team on 23 occasions.

Coming to Philadelphia in exchange for Califf is young midfielder Michael Lahoud. Lahoud, 25, is in his fourth MLS after being drafted 9th overall by Chivas USA in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. The Union also received and undisclosed about of allocation money in the deal.

Follow GOAL.COM USA on Twitter