Melbourne Heart Officially Sign Fred, Former Philadelphia Union Midfielder

Melbourne Heart brought former League A stalwart Fred back to Austrailia on a free transfer. He will join Melbourne in late July, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

As the Washington Post reported last week, through its Steven Goff run blog Soccer Insider, the Brazilian had a clause in his contract with MLS side DC United that allowed him to leave the USA if a foreign team declared official interest in Fred. The inclusion of the clause is odd based upon the fact that Fred have only signed back with United, whom he played for prior to joining the Union in 2010, during the preseason of the 2011 MLS season.

The 31-year-old will return to a league in which he was a fan favorite and considered one of its best players during his one season stint with Heart's cross city rivals, Melbourne Victory. The Brotherly Game reported back in January that Fred was on his way back to the other side of the world based on tweets from the player himself.