Happy Friday the 13th! It’s supposedly an unlucky day, but it’s hard not to just brush superstitions aside as we get ready for the weekend during a busy month. I’ll be spending the next few days shopping with friends, prying gift ideas from my family members who are hard to shop for, and hopefully starting a book or two that I’ve been meaning to read. But for now, let’s get to today’s links!

Orlando City Linked With Luis Palma

The rumor mill is in full swing and Orlando City is reportedly interested in Honduran winger Luis Palma, who currently plays for Celtic in Scotland. According to 67 Hail Hail, which covers Celtic transfer news, Orlando and Atlanta United have the 24-year-old on their radars. Palma is under contract with Celtic until 2028, but hasn’t been receiving much playing time under Brendan Rodgers. Orlando reportedly hasn’t contacted Celtic for a deal. In my opinion, this may just be the kind of interest that could be said of many players Orlando likely keeps tabs on abroad. Palma is talented, but he would be an awkward fit for an Orlando side that has open U22 Initiative slots and could be freeing up a Designated Player slot as well.

Facundo Torres Transfer Saga Rolls On

Would it be an Orlando off-season without some uncertainty over a prominent attacker? Orlando forward Facundo Torres’s potential departure has been the subject of reports this week, with Palmeiras and Cruz Azul as the leading contenders to sign him. According to Fabrizio Romano, Cruz Azul has now submitted a bid to Orlando for the 24-year-old, with Torres accepting the move as well.

But while Romano reports that Orlando is expected to accept the bid, Tom Bogert of Give Me Sport reports that Orlando is keeping its word to Palmeiras after accepting the Brazilian club’s offer.

If these reports are to be believed, it’s smart for Orlando to sit back while Palmeiras tries to work things out with Torres and Cruz Azul waits in the wings if it falls apart. There’s also still a chance Torres winds up staying in Orlando despite all of this. It’s a fluid situation and I’m curious how it will all shake out.

MLS Transfer News Roundup

While most of the excitement of MLS free agency is seeing which players wind up in new places, clubs are also focused on keeping important players around as well. LAFC has locked down defender Aaron Long, re-signing him to a deal through 2027. FC Dallas winger Alan Velasco signed a contract extension through 2028 with the club and will still be a Young Designated Player. Atlanta United re-signed forward Jamal Thiare, who had a brace in Atlanta’s win against Inter Miami in the playoffs.

San Diego FC also officially added center back Andres Reyes from the New York Red Bulls in exchange for $800,000 in General Allocation Money. Reyes should be a great anchor for San Diego’s defense as it prepares for its inaugural season in 2025.

Keeping Up With Europa League

The Europa League wrapped up another round of matches Thursday, and it’s a bit clearer on where each team stands heading into the tail end of the group stage. Rasmus Hojlund came off the bench and scored twice to lead Manchester United’s comeback in a 2-1 win over Viktoria Plzen in Czechia. Tottenham went to Glasgow and salvaged a point in a 1-1 draw thanks to a goal from Dejan Kulusevski. As for the two teams atop the standings, Lazio beat Ajax 3-1 in Amsterdam and Athletic Club won 2-0 against Fenerbahce. Galatasaray had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Malmo after Sergio Peña scored for the Swedish club in stoppage time. While no club has outright earned a spot in the round of 16 just yet, seven teams are assured of at least the knockout phase now, including Manchester United, Anderlecht, and Lyon.

Free Kicks

• CF Montreal and Toronto FC will square off in the first round of next year’s Canadian Championship. Meanwhile, the Vancouver Whitecaps have a bye into the next round.
• Dax McCarty, who retired following this past season, posted on Instagram that he will join the MLS Season Pass crew starting next season.
• Along with the great Champions League goal Weston McKennie and Tim Weah combined for, the returns of Johnny Cardoso and Giovanni Reyna were bright spots from Americans abroad this week.
• FIFA officially announced that the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil will start on June 24 and end on July 25.
• The Orlando Pride don’t just do good things on the soccer pitch. They also do good things away from the field, such as bringing a little joy to local area hospital patients.

That’s all I have for you today. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!

Orlando City selected forward Shakur Mohammed with the No. 2 overall selection out of Duke in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft. The Kumasi, Ghana native signed a Generation Adidas deal with Major League Soccer prior to the draft, meaning the club selecting him would receive salary cap relief during the early part of his career while he developed.

Mohammed spent the 2023 season with Orlando City B in MLS NEXT Pro, where he scored six goals and added three assists in 24 appearances, helping the Young Lions reach the postseason. In his second pro season, Shak spent pretty much the entire year with OCB again, taking a step forward and providing a team-high 11 goals and two assists and helping the Young Lions return to the playoffs. However, he also saw some minutes with the first team, making his debut in the Concacaf Champions Cup and also getting his first few minutes of MLS action.

Let’s take a look at Mohammed’s limited minutes in his second season.

Statistical Breakdown

The 21-year-old Duke product appeared in two consecutive MLS regular-season matches — both off the bench. They were his only appearances of the regular season. He made his MLS debut March 17 off the bench in a 2-0 loss at Atlanta and came on late again March 23 in a 2-0 home win over Austin FC. He tallied just four minutes in total. As such, he did not record a goal contribution or a shot attempt, but he completed all four of his passes without a key pass, cross, or long ball among them. Defensively, he won an aerial duel. He did not commit a foul, but drew one on the opposition, and he wasn’t booked.

Mohammed’s first appearance ever for the senior side — and his only start so far — came in Concacaf Champions Cup action in a 3-1 home victory over Cavalry FC Feb. 27, playing the first 45 minutes of the match. He did not record a goal contribution or attempt a shot, but he completed 85.7% of his 21 passes, including his only cross attempt, but he did not provide a key pass. Mohammed didn’t register a defensive statistic in his 27 touches, nor did he commit or draw a foul or receive a card.

The second-year pro did not appear in the MLS Cup playoffs or Leagues Cup.

Best Game

With such a small sample size, let’s go with his start against Cavalry FC in Concacaf Champions Cup action. While Mohammed wasn’t able to leave a mark on the game, and he didn’t show enough to stay on the pitch past halftime, the young forward played his first 45 minutes with the senior team, made himself available with some good runs, and used his speed to help push back the visitors’ attack. Ultimately, he helped the Lions advance in the competition for the first time. Just 20 years old at the time, Mohammed made his first start with the first team, a moment he’s sure to remember forever.

2024 Final Grade

With just a combined 49 minutes played with the first team this year, Mohammed receives an incomplete grade in 2024 from The Mane Land staff. But that’s an improvement over last year, when he didn’t play first-team minutes, meaning he didn’t get a Season in Review piece. Perhaps next season he’ll qualify for a grade if he continues to develop.

2025 Outlook

Mohammed just turned 21 in late August, so he’s still a young player and at times his game is still quite raw. However, he improved from OCB sidekick to Jack Lynn in 2023 to the Young Lions’ main attacking threat in 2024, showing he is learning the professional game. With his pace and shifty moves, Mohammed has a lot of upside. He is still under contract for the 2025 season, but I expect he’ll spend most of 2025 with OCB again due to the makeup of the current roster. If he can continue to develop his game, he may get more than just a few token appearances late in the game as a reward for his hard work next season.

Previous Season in Review Articles (Date Posted)

• Alex Freeman (12/5/24)
• Michael Halliday (12/6/24)
• Yutaro Tsukada (12/7/24)
• Mason Stajduhar (12/8/24)
• Javier Otero (12/9/24)
• Jack Lynn (12/11/24)

How’s it going, Mane Landers? December is flying by and the clock is ticking to get things squared away before the holidays are fully upon us. I still have some shopping I need to knock out and then need to decide what I’m baking for when I visit my family in a couple of weeks. Let’s dive into today’s links.

Lions Lose Heine Gikling Bruseth in Expansion Draft

Midfielder Heine Gikling Bruseth is no longer a Lion after San Diego FC selected him in the 2024 MLS Expansion Draft. Orlando City signed the 20-year-old from Norwegian side Kristiansund BK in August as a U22 Initiative player, and he has yet to play in an MLS game. We won’t get a chance to see what impact Bruseth can have here in Orlando and he’s now part of San Diego’s plans on the other side of the country. Bruseth joins Kamal Miller, Nicholas Gioacchini, and Mikey Ambrose on the list of Lions taken in the MLS Expansion Draft, as Orlando just can’t seem to catch a break in these events.

San Diego also selected Colorado Rapids midfielder Jasper Loffelsend and Charlotte FC defender Hamady Diop as well. New York City FC forward Thiago Andrade was selected and promptly traded to Toronto FC. St. Louis City midfielder Hosei Kijima is on the move as well after being selected and traded to D.C. United.

Cruz Azul Joins Hunt for Facundo Torres

Orlando City forward Facundo Torres, who was linked with a move to Palmeiras earlier this week, is reportedly being courted by Cruz Azul of Liga MX as well. While Orlando and Palmeiras have reportedly agreed to terms on what would be a club-record deal, Cruz Azul has not yet submitted a bid to Orlando. If Torres does leave the club this winter, I’d personally rather see him head to Palmeiras in Brazil instead of Cruz Azul. The idea of the Lions going up against Torres in the Leagues Cup or another competition makes me sick to my stomach.

Orlando Pride Sign Kat Asman

The Orlando Pride are already making moves this off-season, signing goalkeeper Kat Asman to a two-year contract. Asman was drafted with the 39th overall pick by the Portland Thorns last year but didn’t make any appearances as a rookie. She now joins a Pride goalkeeping group that currently includes Anna Moorhouse, McKinley Crone, and Sofia Manner. While Asman may not make much of an impact next year, she’ll have the opportunity to grow her game and push the players ahead of her on the depth chart.

MLS Free Agency Opens Today

The MLS off-season is in full swing and the free agency officially kicks off today. There is plenty of talent across all positions available, which should make for an exciting flurry of wheeling and dealing as clubs prepare for 2025. It will also be interesting to see where former Lions wind up, as Ruan, Junior Urso, and Benji Michel are all free agents. As for other notable players to keep an eye out for, forwards like Josef Martinez and Jeremy Ebobisse could give clubs some additional firepower. Goalkeeper Tim Melia, center back Jack Elliott, and journeyman striker Kei Kamara are a few of the other interesting players out there.

Champions League Roundup

The latest round of Champions League matches wrapped up, but the standings remain a murky mess where only three points separate the team in third and team in 19th. The heavyweight match of the day Wednesday was between Juventus and Manchester City in Italy, with Juventus putting in a great defensive performance to win 2-0. Americans Weston McKennie and Tim Weah linked up for Juventus’ second goal after coming off the bench.

Atletico Madrid won its third straight Champions League match, beating Slovan Bratislava 3-1, thanks to a brace from Antoine Griezmann. Arsenal cruised past Monaco 3-0 to stay near the top of the standings, Ferran Torres scored twice in Barcelona’s 3-2 win over Borussia Dortmund, and Benfica and Bologna battled to a scoreless draw in Portugal.

Free Kicks

• Curt Johnson has resigned as the North Carolina Courage’s chief soccer officer after 14 years with the club in order to pursue other opportunities.
• San Diego FC sent up to $100,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) to D.C. United in order to sign defender Christopher McVey, inking him to a contract through 2026. San Diego is also reportedly set to sign New York Red Bulls center back Andres Reyes for a hefty amount of GAM.
• Speaking of the Red Bulls, they announced a 13-year partnership with Sports Illustrated Tickets and their stadium will now be named Sports Illustrated Stadium. Starting in 2026, Sports Illustrated Tickets will also be the official ticketing partner for events at the stadium, including Red Bull and NJ/NY Gotham FC home matches.
• MLS announced the 44 players invited to take part in this year’s MLS College Showcase. The closed-door scouting event will take place over the next few days, with the MLS SuperDraft set for 3 p.m. Dec. 20.
• There will be two matches between MLS teams in the first round of the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup, with Sporting Kansas City facing Inter Miami and LAFC taking on the Colorado Rapids. The Columbus Crew and LA Galaxy won’t join the fun until the round of 16 after earning byes.
• 2024 MLS NEXT Pro MVP David Poreba will be joining the big leagues, with the Chicago Fire signing the 22-year-old to a contract that will run through 2025, with options for 2026, 2027, and 2028.
• Wolfsburg forward Sveindís Jónsdóttir came off the bench and put on a show, scoring four goals to help her team beat AS Roma in the Women’s Champions League.
• It’s official, Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 FIFA World Cup. FIFA also confirmed that the 2030 edition of the tournament will have matches in six different countries.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!