Orlando City has a new Designated Player on the right wing. Croatian international Marco Pašalić signed a contract with the Lions through 2027 and will be the club’s newest Designated Player. The contract includes a club option year for 2028. The club needed to act after selling Facundo Torres to Palmeiras just weeks ago on Dec. 20. Pašalić will wear jersey No. 87 this season for the Lions.

“This is an exciting signing for us and we’re happy to have Marco join us here in Orlando,” Orlando City Executive Vice President of Soccer Operations and General Manager Luiz Muzzi said in a club press release. “His desire to take on defenders and ability to be a constant threat on goal is exactly what we’ve been looking to add during this transfer window. He has a great personality and competitive drive that we feel truly fits the culture we’ve built here at Orlando City, and moreover, he has a constant desire to win that is infectious. We’re excited to have him wear purple and look forward to all he’ll achieve while representing our club.”

Pašalić, 24, arrives from HNK Rijeka in the Supersport HNL — Croatia’s top flight. The left-footed winger has scored four goals and added either three or four assists (depending on which stat site you use) in 19 games (18 starts) this season for HNK Rijeka, playing 1,372 minutes (or 1,374, again depending on where you look).

“I think it was an easy option for me to decide I want to come make the next step here in Orlando,” Pašalić said about his decision to join the Lions. “I play with heart. I am a fighter on the field, but mostly on offense. My expectation is that we win everything. I like to win.”

A dual citizen of Croatia and Germany, Pašalić was born in Karlsruhe in the latter country. He split his youth career between several clubs —Karlsruher SC, SG Siemens Karlsruhe, SV Sandhausen, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, and VfB Stuttgart. He played 35 games with VfB Stuttgart II, scoring eight goals in 2020-2021 before a move in May 2021 to Borussia Dortmund. He played mainly for Borussia Dortmund II from 2021 to 2023, appearing 35 times and scoring six goals, and making one appearance for the first team in Bundesliga play in a loss against VfL Wolfsburg. He also came off the bench once for Borussia Dortmund’s first team in a 2021 loss to Bayern Munich in the DFL-Supercup.

In June of 2023, Pašalić moved to Rijeka, where he has scored 10 goals in 49 appearances since joining the club.

On the international level, Pašalić has represented Croatia at the U-17 and U-21 youth levels. He has also been capped five times with the Croatian National Team, scoring one goal, which came in a pre-tournament friendly against North Macedonia prior to UEFA Euro 2024 competition.

In addition to a Designated Player slot, Pašalić will require an international roster slot.

What It Means for Orlando City

While the intention and the appearance of this move may be a like-for-like replacement for Torres, this is not something fans should expect — at least not immediately. Torres posted better numbers in MLS last year than Pašalić has put up in Croatia, and while comparing leagues is problematic, there is plenty of evidence to suggest Torres’ statistics came against much better competition, although conversely, he also was surrounded by higher caliber teammates overall. Opta Analyst ranked MLS as the world’s ninth-best league in its October rankings. Meanwhile, the Supersport HNL was rated the world’s 19th-best league in Europe by globalfootballrankings.com recently and 25th in the world. That is below several second-tier leagues.

Pašalić’s age is a plus, however. Having just turned 24 in September, he’s still got some development potential that could see him climb to Torres’ level. Muzzi is clearly banking on that development. A return to European top-flight football is a strong incentive for Pašalić to try to maximize his time in Orlando.

However, at least in the short term, this seems to be a step backward for an Orlando side that came within one win of the MLS Cup final in December. Replacing 20 goal contributions isn’t easy, especially when Duncan McGuire is going to be sidelined for a while at the start of the season. There will be more pressure on Luis Muriel, Ramiro Enrique, and the team’s attacking midfielders to produce the difference in the shortfall between Torres’ dependable offensive contributions and whatever Pašalić will be able to provide while he acclimates to a new culture, MLS, and his teammates — a process likely lengthened by his late arrival and missing much of the preseason.

If Nicolas Rodriguez pans out, however, the combination of Orlando’s latest MLS U22 Initiative signing and most recent DP could combine to approximate Torres’ production at right wing.

With a reported deal nearing finalization for central midfielder Eduard Atuesta, which would mitigate the loss of Wilder Cartagena to the injury he sustained in the preseason opener, the Lions’ focus should be on providing coverage at striker for McGuire’s absence. Orlando is vulnerable if Enrique picks up a knock. Muriel arrived as a forward, but has not shown a willingness to do the dirty work in the penalty area or a lethality in front of goal the Lions will need to play alone up top in Oscar Pareja’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, and there’s no good second option to play two up top.

While highlight videos are hardly scouting reports, fans who were frustrated by Torres’ unwillingness to use his right foot will likely not be thrilled to see every shot Pašalić took in the eight-minute video below was with his left, however, he showed a willingness to center the ball for others with his right, which is something Torres didn’t show much in his time in Orlando.

“My left foot is my weapon and my dribbling,” Pašalić said in an interview released to media by the club.

Pašalić looks to have a good burst in the video, but it’s impossible to gauge his speed in the video relative to MLS competition. Nevertheless, the video shows what he will bring to the Lions.

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers! Less than two weeks ago, I had a snow day from work up here in Tallahassee. Two days ago, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, meaning six more weeks of winter. Today, I’ll probably wear shorts since Florida is evidently exempt from rodent-based weather predictions. I don’t really have a point to all of this other than I’d like to be able to wear sweaters and jackets for a little while longer, but that’s obviously not meant to be.

We also want to wish a happy birthday to both Duncan McGuire and Rafael Santos. Let’s get to the links.

Marta to be Featured on Prime

Prime Video is producing a four-part series entitled “For the Win: NWSL” that will provide an immersive look at the NWSL. The series will feature four of the league’s biggest stars, including the Orlando Pride’s Marta. The other players featured are Alex Morgan, Trinity Rodman, and Croix Bethune. No word on when it will be released, but we know it will likely end by showing Marta lift the trophy, and that is something I’ll watch over and over again.

Hayes Prepares the USWNT for SheBelieves Cup

Emma Hayes knows that defending the SheBelieves Cup title will be a challenge. With many of her players just starting the NWSL preseason, she will need to use all 26 players available if the USWNT is to win yet again. Of course, while the SheBelieves Cup is important, ultimately it is a stop along the way to the the Women’s World Cup. Unlike the her last major tournament, Hayes has plenty of time to prepare for the World Cup.

MLS Transfer Updates

I’m not sure why we keep telling you about all the stuff other clubs are doing to improve their teams for 2025, but here we go again. Atlanta United has signed Middlesbrough FC forward Emmanuel Latte Lath for a reported MLS record fee of $22 million. Bringing in quality strikers is a good thing, or so I hear. Elsewhere, the Philadelphia Union signed Homegrown defender Neil Pierre to a four-year deal. The Portland Thorns brought in Jimer Fory from Colombian side Independiente Medellín through 2028. Carlos Gruezo is headed to Ecuadorian club LDU Quito after he and the San Diego Earthquakes mutually terminated his contract. Of course, clubs can now also employ the cash-for-player system for selling players to other clubs within MLS.

MLS Clubs are Selling

Orlando City supporters are familiar with the idea that MLS is a selling league. Young players — particularly South American players — are brought into the league by clubs to develop and sell on for a profit. We saw that with Facundo Torres recently. There are some who bemoan the loss of talent, but there’s always more behind it. Overall, for where MLS is at this point, it is a good thing for the league. It’s also a good thing for individual clubs, assuming they continue to bring in additional talent — preferably sooner than later, Orlando City front office.

Free Kicks

• Cristiano Ronaldo does not lack confidence. While acknowledging the greatness of players like Lionel Messi, Pelé, or Diego Maradona, Ronaldo still thinks he’s the “most complete” player of all time.
• Former USWNT and Orlando Pride midfielder Christine Nairn, has joined the coaching staff at Alabama.

• The growth of the game is a good thing. Congratulations to the NWSL Denver expansion side for setting a league record for the fastest team to reach 5,000 ticket deposits. 
• Finally, Jon Stewart Concacaf’ed Concacaf. You love to see it.

That will do it for today. Perhaps the club will surprise us with a massive signing or two. What? I can hope, can’t I?

Happy Tuesday, everyone. I hope you’ve had a better start to the week than me, as I’ve been fighting an illness and have been in the trenches big time. Before we get into the news of the day, let’s all wish Orlando Pride forward Simone Charley a happy birthday. We have lots of things to discuss this morning, so let’s jump right into today’s links.

MLS Transfer Roundup

As is usual for this time of year, there are a number of MLS transfer items that we need to catch up on. We start with a huge move, as the Columbus Crew have sold striker Cucho Hernandez to Real Betis for a fee that Tom Bogert says was for $16 million plus add-ons.

Sporting Kansas City had a busy Monday, as the club completed a pair of deals to start the week, signing midfielder Manu Garcia from Aris Thessaloniki, who will occupy a Designated Player slot. SKC also signed winger Shapi Suleymanov from Aris Thessaloniki, with the Russian under contract through 2026 with additional option years for 2027 and 2028. Finally, the Houston Dynamo sent $2.1 million in cash to the Philadelphia Union in exchange for midfielder Jack McGlynn.

Americans in Midweek Action

There are a number of American players who will be taking part in games during the working week, so make sure you have everything marked down on your calendar. Paxten Aaronson and Utrecht will travel to face Heracles in the quarterfinals of the KNVB Cup later today. Wednesday continues the theme of cup action, as Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, and AC Milan host Roma in the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia. Thursday brings yet more cup action as Cade Cowell and Chivas will travel to the Dominican Republic to face Cibao in the Concacaf Champions Cup. Things then wrap up on Friday with Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, and Juventus traveling to play Como in Serie A.

MLS & USSF Win Lawsuit

A federal jury has sided with MLS and the U.S. Soccer Federation in the antitrust lawsuit brought against them by the North American Soccer League. The NASL brought the suit against the two parties back in 2017 when the USSF denied the NASL’s application to be recognized as a Division 2 league. The USSF’s division structure provides a set of requirements that a league must meet in order to be classified as part of a certain division, and the NASL alleged that the USSF constantly modified those requirements in order to avoid awarding the NASL a Division 1 and, later, a Division 2 classification. Despite the ruling, the NASL is likely to lodge an appeal, which means that we probably haven’t heard the last of this.

European Deadline Day Roundup

The winter transfer window is now closed in the vast majority of Europe’s leagues, so let’s catch up on the moves that happened on the final day of business. Manchester City made a big splash by signing Nicolas Gonzalez from FC Porto for a fee believed to be around $62 million. Tottenham Hotspur signed Mathys Tel on loan from Bayern Munich, with the deal including an option to make the loan permanent at the end of the season. Aston Villa signed Marco Asensio on loan from Paris Saint Germain until the end of the season. Ben Chilwell has joined Crystal Palace on loan for the rest of the season. Finally, USMNT defender Caleb Wiley has joined Watford on loan until the end of the season.

Free Kicks

• Manchester United is concerned that Lisandro Martinez may have torn his ACL in the team’s loss to Crystal Palace on Sunday.
• Wrexham has revealed plans to build a new 5,500 capacity stand.
• Here’s an inside look at what it’s like to move on the last day of the transfer window.

That’s all I have for you this morning. Vamos Orlando!