PawedCast Episode 320: Pedro Gallese is Back, Orlando City Transfer Rumors, SuperDraft Results, Pride Signings, and More

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We’re back after a couple of weeks off to recharge our batteries and gather info, and now there’s plenty to talk about for a full-length show.

Starting out on the Orlando City side of the club, the Lions have been busy over the past three weeks. The biggest news is the re-signing of goalkeeper Pedro Gallese to a new two-year contract with an additional club option year. One of City’s biggest off-season priorities was to either re-sign or replace the talented Peruvian international shot stopper and Luiz Muzzi has checked that off the to-do list.

One of the other things the club has to do is find the right player to occupy the third Designated Player slot and that might be Argentine winger Martin Ojeda. Reports are swirling that an agreement is just about finalized but we’ll have to wait and see if this is the guy. We discussed what Ojeda can do for the Lions and why this would be a good move for Orlando City if it comes to pass.

In other news, we talked about Tesho Akindele’s announcement that he’s hanging up his professional soccer boots and going pro in something else. We enjoyed Tesho’s hard work for the club and wish him the best.

We also talked a bit about the 2023 Orlando City schedule and what fans can expect from it this year. Then we turned our attention to the MLS SuperDraft. In addition to adding four players — three in the first round — there was a big subtraction on draft day, as the Lions sent right back Ruan to D.C. United. We spent some time on what Ruan’s departure means for Orlando City in 2023.

On the Pride side, there were multiple players re-signing on two-year contracts, so the club locked up Marta, Viviana Villacorta, and Erika Tymrak through 2024. What does it mean for the Pride? We’ve got thoughts on that. The Pride still have a lot of work to do this off-season in the front office, on the technical staff, and in addressing the roster. Meggie Dougherty Howard, Toni Pressley, Celia, Courtney Petersen, and Jordyn Listro are the remaining unsigned players from the 2022 squad.

One interesting thing that happened since our last show was the announcement that Debinha will not be returning to the North Carolina Courage. A tweet from former Pride GM Ian Fleming seemed to suggest that he may have been working on something significant prior to parting ways with the team and that tweet came out pretty soon after the Debinha announcement. Could she join fellow Brazilian Marta in Central Florida? We’ll have to wait and see, but since we’re not allowed to have nice things, we’re not getting our hopes up just yet.

We also dipped into our mailbag, where we were asked about our thoughts on Gregg Berhalter, the timing of a new Pride general manager, and our Christmas lists. If there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the next show, just ask by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC.

Programming Note: We are in our monthly off-season schedule for recording new episodes, but if the news cycle warrants it, we will of course put out new shows more frequently, as needed. In other words, we might be back in a week or a month.

Stay safe and enjoy the show!

Here’s how No. 320 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City’s off-season moves rolled on over the last few weeks with the Gallese re-signing, a new SuperDraft class, and the departure of Ruan.

39:10 – The Pride are dishing out two-year contracts — one of which was signed by Marta — and wouldn’t it be pretty cool if Debinha signed one?

50:44 – Mailbagbox time!