Tannenwald: Union Trade For Jeff Parke

It'll be a home coming for a veteran central defender, once the Philadelphia Union announce their acquisition of him later today.

A report by the Goalkeeper, run by Philly.com's Jonathan Tannenwald, said that sources informed the blog of what is considered "a major signing" and they said it was Parke.

The deal will most likely include allocation money heading to the Seattle Sounders for Parke.

Seattle has problems with its salary budget, as the Sounders were around $400,000 over the cap. Parke's salary and the allocation money that should be included in the deal will help Seattle manage their financial situation in 2013.

As for Parke's affect on the Union's own books, here's what Tannenwald wrote:

This past season, Parke earned a guaranteed salary of $185,325. That is less than veteran Union central defenders Bakary Soumaré ($280,000.00) and Carlos Valdés ($268,000.00), and a bit more than Generation Adidas product Amobi Okugo ($173,000.00).

Parke was originally linked to Philadelphia in a previous article by the Brotherly Game. Rumors have circulated about Parke wishing to return to the East Coast, and the center back is from Downington, PA, played for FC Delco and was a standout at Drexel University.

The former New York Red Bulls and Vancouver Whitecaps defender caught on with the Sounders in 2010 and has started a vast majority of their games ever since.

A dust up between Parke and head coach Sigi Schmid caused some friction at the start of the 2012 Major League Soccer season because of Schmid's decision to bench the 30-year-old early for "tired legs." Parke ended up playing in 30 games, starting 29 of them, and was near the top of the team in minutes played with 2568 minutes.