Connect with us

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. New York City FC: Player Grades and Man of the Match

How did your favorite Lions rate in Orlando City’s 2-0 loss against NYCFC?

Published

2 years ago

on

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Despite Orlando City being the best road team in MLS, the club fell 2-0 to New York City FC. The Lions still officially punched their ticket into the playoffs thanks to D.C. United drawing Atlanta United elsewhere in the Eastern Conference. The Lions battled throughout the night on the baseball diamond of Citi Field but were unable to find the soccer goal. It will be a quick turnaround now as the team needs to regroup before Sunday’s home match against rival Inter Miami.

Let’s take a look at how Orlando City’s players rated individually in the defeat.

Starters

GK, Pedro Gallese, 7.5 (MotM) — The foul in the box by by Ramiro Enrique led to Gallese needing to make a big play against Santiago Rodriguez’s spot kick. Unfortunately, Gallese couldn’t control the rebound on his diving save, leading to a tap-in header that he really could do nothing about. El Pulpo’s services were called upon four minutes in against former teammate Andres Perea from point-blank range, and then again in the 51st and 52nd minutes when the Octopus was able to make strong-handed saves. However, in the 68th minute, a perfectly placed Talles Magno header was placed where the Peruvian couldn’t make the stop. I don’t think either of the goals were his fault, nor would your favorite worldbeater goalkeeper abroad have stopped them. For that, Gallese is my Man of the Match for having made five saves in total and passing at an 81.1% rate while completing six of his 11 long balls.

D, Rafael Santos, 5.5 — The left back spent much of the first 20 minutes of the match getting faked and dribbled around down the channel. He continually jumped at a feinted cross or turned his back only for his man to dribble into an even more dangerous location inside the box. For a player who has been solid over the last few matches, Santos sure did look shaky and mentally unready for his matchup. His lone shot attempt was off target. He was 2-for-2 on crossing accuracy but just one of his four long balls found their target, while his overall passing rate was a lowly 65.4%, including one key pass. Defensively, he contributed two tackles, two clearances, and a foul while being fouled once himself.

D, Robin Jansson, 6 — It isn’t often that I look back on a match and can’t personally think of any Jansson highlights. He was definitely out there on the pitch, but he never stepped up above and beyond the call of duty like he is known to do. He likely escaped a garbage time yellow card while berating referee Ismail Elfath, but thankfully James Sands stepped in to push the Beefy Swede away to safety. Jansson had one tackle, a clearance, and a blocked shot. He passed at 84.6%, but only two of his 11 long balls were accurate. No wonder Facundo Torres was disappointed every time a deep ball came his way, as chance after chance was uncharacteristically wasted by Jansson.

D, Rodrigo Schlegel, 4.5 — It is never a great sign in a losing match when a center back doesn’t log a single tackle. It usually means they are whiffing, getting out-dribbled, or caught out of position. At times, it seems like each of those could have been the case for Schlegel in this match. Orlando might not get Antonio Carlos back this season, but if that is the case, then Schlegel has to do better, especially as he led the team with 92 touches. He was completely unaware of Magno on the second NYCFC goal and was part of a defense that fell asleep often on set pieces. He did offer one key pass, but his only shot missed the frame. He passed at an 84.5% rate, but like his counterpart, also struggled to connect on long balls. Rodri landed only three of 10 attempts. His two interceptions and two clearances might be the only things that help him save face on the night.

D/MF, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, 6 — Dagur Dan’s first dangerous look of the night came in the 22nd minute as a ball deflected out to him just outside box. The hybrid wingback whipped a curling ball just inside the six-yard box that Enrique barely missed connecting on, which would have opened the scoring on the night. From that point forward, it was much of what we have been seeing from the Icelandic midfielder. He drifts wide to defend and then slides a bit more interior on the attack. I don’t hate it, but I also didn’t love it on a pitch where the small size already clogs the center of the park. He only offered one clearance in his defensive statistics. Offensively, he had a key pass, a through ball, and completed two dribbles. He also passed at an 88.6% rate on 44 attempts and was one-for-two on his crosses.

MF, Cesar Araujo, 6 — At times it seems the Uruguayan goes down softly despite being a bruiser in the defensive midfield on his own. I don’t necessarily hate it, as he does a great job slowing down the game at times when he rolls over, but there were a couple moments in this match where I wish he would have stood his ground and knocked the ball on forward to his teammates for a quick counter opportunity. Either way, Araujo drew a team-high four fouls yet again on the opposition. His passing was a respectable 86.8% on 53 attempts, and two of five long balls found their mark. His failure to properly mark Birk Risa on a set piece late in the game nearly cost Orlando City a third goal conceded. He made one clean tackle but also gave two fouls up. He took one shot on the night and would have done better to lay it off to a couple other Lions in the area.

MF, Wilder Cartagena, 5.5 — The Brazilian almost incited a riot on the pitch by running through a Pigeon after the whistle, but to be fair, it was a bang-bang play and he was coming in at full speed already. It didn’t take long after for Cartagena to earn his yellow card. He was fouled twice but gave three total himself. He also stepped up twice to clear the ball out of danger. With his 30 touches, he passed 20 times at 85% success but neither of his two crosses found a teammate.

MF, Ivan Angulo, 6.5 — I feel bad for players with attributes like Angulo when they have to play on the baseball fields. While he has the pace and could likely steal home, it doesn’t translate when you’re playing soccer in a compact outfield. His biggest strength is a push-and-go into space but that just isn’t available in Citi Field. Angulo did put his only shot on target when he was able to get involved in the attack. He also had one key pass in his 18 passing attempts (88.9%). Defensively, he made a pair of tackles and an interception. Angulo drew one foul.

MF, Mauricio Pereyra, 6 — The midfield maestro popped in and out of the half spaces throughout the night to distribute from one side of the pitch to the other. He led the team with three shots but not one of them was on target. With 53 touches on the ball, he was able to complete 80% of his 35 passes and one of two long balls, but he was sloppy in terms of staying on the ball too long at times, having two unstable touches and getting dispossessed twice. While it will go down in the match notes as a yellow card for persistent infringement, the referee was likely just trying to slow down a match that was beginning to get a little too chippy for his liking. The attacking midfielder put up a team-high four tackles in addition to his clearance and three fouls. Sometimes your skipper has to do the dirty work, and I’m ok with that.

MF, Facundo Torres, 6.5 — The Designated Player had a mixed bag in the first half, as his teammates seemed to miss him with their long passes. But down 1-0 at the start of the second half, Torres found a low driven cross slightly behind him just outside the six-yard box that he wasn’t able to put on frame. When he was on the ball though, he completed two dribbles and made three key passes to go with his two-for-three crossing and one-for-one long ball percentages. In total, 91.4% of his 35 passes completed which isn’t bad at all for only 46 total touches.

F, Ramiro Enrique, 4.5 — It wasn’t just the tackle in the box that caused Enrique to give up a penalty, but it was his errant pass that he attempted to lay off to Dagur Dan first. Ultimately, both errors equated to what was NYCFC’s first goal. I would like to say the poor play stopped there for him, but he blew what could have been a couple golden chances by dribbling too long and failing to see the open man to pass to. It truly is sad to see how a Player of the Matchday fell from his pedestal just days later. He was taken off after 58 minutes with just 16 touches to his name. Despite winning three aerial duels and making a clearance, his lowly 70% passing rating, missed cross, missed shot, and critical foul conceded really put a damper on his stats. If there was such an award that equates to opposite of MotM, I unfortunately have to cast it upon the MLS U22 Initiative forward.

Substitutes

MF, Martin Ojeda (59′), 6.5 — Ojeda replaced Cartagena as Orlando City had fallen behind by a goal and the Lions needed to create more offensive chances. While he did create one key pass, the Designated Player only found himself on the ball 22 times in his late minutes. He completed 66.7% of his 12 passes and completed his only long ball attempt, but was one-for-six with his crossing and didn’t attempt a shot. Defensively, Ojeda had one tackle and an interception.

D, Luca Petrasso (59′), 5.5 — The Canadian came on and just under 10 minutes later lost a 50-50 aerial battle in the channel which became a crossed ball to Magno that was headed in for the Pigeons second goal of the match. Petrasso took one shot that was blocked, but he had Torres standing right next to him, who would have been the better option. While he lost the only aerial that really mattered, he did win one of his own though, to go along with two tackles and a clearance. He missed his long ball and cross attempts but landed 88.9% of his 18 passes.

F, Duncan McGuire (59′), 5 — Big Dunc is back, but the Big Dunc Energy was not. With only six touches and no shots across more than half an hour, the striker should be disappointed with his impact. His only stats contributed were a successful long ball and an 83.3% success rate on just six passing attempts.

D, Michael Halliday (80′), N/A — The Homegrown right back came on to provide some late fresh legs while the Lions attempted to come from behind. It was a little too late for Halliday to make a real impact on his own. In his time, he managed 15 touches, won an aerial, passed at a 75% rate, and recorded a clearance.

MF, Gastón González (80′), N/A — The Argentinian winger made his return to the pitch after a lengthy injury period to garner a few minutes and get his legs back under him. His only shot was on target, which is hopefully a great sign for the future. He had seven total touches, completing both of his passes, but missed his only cross. He also gave up one foul.

That’s how I saw the individual performances on Wednesday night as Orlando City fell to expansion rival NYCFC. What did I get right/wrong in your view? Be sure to vote for your Man of the Match in our poll below and provide your thoughts in the comments section.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Orlando City

Orlando City Re-Signs Martin Ojeda Through 2028-2029 Season

The Lions ink the Argentine playmaker to a long-term extension.

Published

6 hours ago

on

January 15, 2026

By

Picture of Martin Ojeda celebrating one of his two goals in Orlando City's 5-1 win over Necaxa.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City extended the stay of attacking midfielder Martín Ojeda today, announcing a new contract that runs through the 2028-2029 season with a club option for 2029-2030. Ojeda, whose deal was set to expire at the end of 2026 (though the club held an option year for 2027), remains in purple in the wake of the best overall offensive season in Orlando City’s MLS history.

This deal takes place after recent reports indicated teams in Brazil and Europe were potentially targeting the Argentine playmaker for a winter transfer.

“This is a major move for us as we enter our next competitive cycle,” Orlando City General Manager and Sporting Director Ricardo Moreira said in a club press release. “Martín is central to our attacking identity. He is a consistent creator, proven match-winner, and emotional leader whose presence elevates everyone around him. He has set numerous club records during his time here, and this renewal reflects both his sustained excellence and our commitment to building a roster with long-term flexibility. We’re thrilled to keep Martín in purple as we continue our push for trophies.”

Orlando signed Ojeda to a three-year deal from Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba in Argentina with two option years on Jan. 9, 2023. He scored just five goals in the 2025 MLS regular season, starting slowly with his new club and spending the bulk of the season coming off the bench despite carrying the Designated Player tag. Although he appeared in 33 games in 2023, he started only 15. His 2024 season was much better, although he hadn’t yet found his shooting boots, scoring just four times but providing 12 assists in 34 matches (24 starts). His production in the league jumped by leaps and bounds in 2025, as he scored 16 goals and added 15 assists in 33 appearances (30 starts). He set MLS career highs in goals, assists, starts, shots (103), shots on target (40), and key passes (101).

Ojeda, 27, set a club record with 39 goal contributions across all competitions in his 2025 breakout year, shattering the previous mark of 29 set by Facundo Torres the year before, and he tied Torres’ club mark of 20 goals across all competitions in a single year. In his three seasons as a Lion, Ojeda has appeared in 130 matches across all competitions (91 starts), amassing 33 goals and 42 assists.

“It’s an honor to renew and continue being part of this club until (at least) 2029,” Ojeda said in the club’s release. “We will keep working with ambition and commitment, always showing up and giving everything to defend these colors. Let’s keep growing together.”

Ojeda developed in the youth academy of Argentine side Ferro Carril Oeste, joining the club’s senior squad at age 18 in January of 2016 and scoring on his debut on Jan. 30 of that year against Atlético Paraná. He scored five goals in 43 games with Ferro before joining Racing Club in July of 2017, spending two years with the famous side before being loaned to Huracán for the 2019-2020 season. In August of 2020 he was loaned to Godoy Cruz and was signed by that club when his loan ended. Across 139 competitive professional matches, Ojeda has scored 35 goals and added 23 assists.

What It Means for Orlando City

Ojeda was about to enter his option year, so Orlando getting him to sign a new contract was important. The fact that Ojeda committed to the Lions through 2028-2029 is significant as well, indicating that he’s happy both with the trajectory of his career and with being in Orlando. Situations can, and do, change (after all, Facundo Torres was sold after signing a contract extension), but if Ojeda’s feelings toward the club or the league change, Orlando City will be able to sell him — likely for a significant return. In the meantime, the Lions keep their biggest attacking weapon in Ojeda, a player who can score goals himself and provide them for others at a rate that compares to the top offensive players around Major League Soccer.

The Lions keep a player who spent most of 2025 operating at an MLS MVP and Best XI level. Had the team not stumbled down the stretch, he may have been in line for multiple awards at the end of the season. As it was, Ojeda provided quiet leadership and provided plenty of goal contributions. The team was always a threat to score on the counter or the buildup whenever he was on the pitch. If he can build on an outstanding 2025 — and as he won’t even turn 28 until November, there’s no reason to think he can’t — the Lions keep one of the league’s best players on the roster well beyond the current season and have financial leverage if his continued excellent play results in offers from clubs in bigger leagues.

This is a huge sigh of relief for Orlando City fans who were concerned about recent rumors that multiple teams were interested in buying Ojeda over the winter.

Continue Reading

Orlando City

Orlando City Parts Ways with Designated Player Luis Muriel

Designated Player Luis Muriel’s time in purple has come to an end.

Published

8 hours ago

on

January 15, 2026

By

Image of Luis Muriel playing against Philadelphia.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City opened up a valuable Designated Player slot today with the expected announcement that forward Luis Muriel has transferred to Atlético Junior in Colombia’s top flight. Muriel ends an inconsistent two-year stint with the Lions to return home to the club with which he began his youth career from 2001 through 2008.

Junior announced the signing on social media Wednesday evening, well before Orlando City released anything official.

Orlando City had to wait for league approval of the deal to make the announcement and that has now taken place. The club will retain a percentage of a future sale of the Lions’ former DP.

“We want to thank Luis for his contributions during his time here in Orlando,” Orlando City General Manager and Sporting Director Ricardo Moreira said in a club press release. “We wish him the best as he accomplishes his dream of returning to play for his boyhood club.”

The Lions signed Muriel as a Designated Player on Feb. 15, 2024, from Atalanta in Italy’s Serie A. Muriel signed a three-year contract that was slated to run through the upcoming 2026 season.

The club and the fanbase both expected a lot out of the former Italian top flight player, with his history of both scoring goals and working the type of quick, intricate passes that sets up his teammates for scoring chances. It seemed a skillset that was perfect for Oscar Pareja’s system in Orlando.

But Muriel got off to a slow start in 2024 and underproduced for a Designated Player. His 2025 campaign was much better, but the Colombian veteran was inconsistent — looking like an MLS Best XI player one week and largely disappearing the next.

Muriel leaves after making 84 appearances (47 starts) with Orlando City across all competitions. He scored 17 goals and added 18 assists during his time as a Lion.

The 34-year-old is coming off easily the best of his two seasons in Orlando, in which he scored nine goals and added nine assists in MLS regular-season play in 33 matches (25 starts). It’s likely he would have appeared in all of the regular-season games had he not taken a ridiculous red card late in a lopsided loss at Nashville. But Muriel, like most of the team, faded down the stretch as the Lions fell down the standings and crashed out of the playoffs by losing the wild card game on the road in Chicago.

What It Means for Orlando City

The biggest news is that this move opens up DP and international slots for Orlando City that can be used to bolster the team ahead of the 2026 campaign. The club gets its biggest contract off the books as well. This move has been in the works long enough that the club almost certainly has a target in mind for that DP slot, but whether it’s for this window or the midseason transfer window remains to be seen. The urgency would suggest the former.

Muriel was a mercurial player in Orlando, capable of the kinds of explosions that saw him score five goals across two games last August against Necaxa in Leagues Cup and Inter Miami during MLS play. He was also capable of disappearing, as he did after his last goal of the 2025 season in any competition on Aug. 23 in a 5-1 loss at Nashville. The Colombian ended the season in a nine-game goal-scoring slump. That came in the wake of an otherwise solid 2025 season, in which he exceeded 20 total goal contributions across all competitions.

Moreira will seek a Designated Player who can perform at a more consistent level and show up in the club’s biggest games. Muriel managed just one single shot on target in six MLS playoff games. He did not score a goal in the MLS playoffs, Concacaf Champions Cup, or the Leagues Cup knockout, although he did supply two assists in the 2025 Leagues Cup knockout rounds. Muriel’s time in Orlando wasn’t so much a bust as it failed to live up to the lofty expectations fans have of Designated Players. His time in Orlando will likely be remembered by many fans in a similar light as Ercan Kara’s stint with the Lions.

Continue Reading

Orlando City

Orlando City Will Probably Look South To Replace Luis Muriel

What Orlando City has looked for in the past when filling Designated Player spots might tell us something about a future Luis Muriel replacement.

Published

9 hours ago

on

January 15, 2026

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City kicked off (see what I did there?) its preseason Monday, but Luis Muriel was not in attendance, as he has almost certainly played his final game for the club and will be with a new team in 2026. Muriel did not reach the levels that many fans had hoped he would during his time with the Lions, but he was a solid player for the team and there is no ready-made like-for-like replacement for him on the current roster. His are important shoes to fill, but if he’s out, the club will have an available Designated Player slot, which means the Lions have carte blanche to fill that roster spot however they would like.

Carte blanche is a French phrase meaning “blank check.” Listeners of The Mane Land PawedCast and subscribers to our weekly newsletter will know that our Michael Citro would like the club to use that French phrase to sign a certain French forward named Antoine Griezmann. Bringing his je ne sais quoi to Inter&Co Stadium would enable the Lions to enact a coup d’état on Inter Miami and win the 2026 MLS Cup, which would obviously be a fait accompli were Griezmann to be le prince qui…sorry, the prince that was promised and sign with the Lions.

Griezmann has expressed interest in MLS, and according to transfermarkt.com his market value has dropped from its high of $175 million in 2018 to approximately $12.8 million today, but I do not believe he wants to come to MLS right now, and right now is when Orlando City is looking for a third Designated Player to join with the lethal lefties Marco Pašalić and Martín Ojeda.

Muriel’s departure would leave approximately 2,500 minutes to fill, but it is not yet exactly clear what the front office will be looking for to replace those minutes, as though he primarily played up top, Muriel was not a traditional striker, often dropping deep into the midfield to help initiate offense. After several years of primarily playing a 4-2-3-1, Orlando City played a 4-4-2 for most of 2026, but when Muriel was on the field he played more like a trequartista, roaming all over the field and trying to create goal-scoring opportunities. He finished 2025 with 22 goal contributions in all competitions, so he was decently effective, at nearly one goal contribution (0.88) per 90 minutes — second on the team behind Ojeda.

Muriel’s offense will need to be replaced, but the who, when, and where questions still are unanswered as to how the club will do that. Let’s review the club’s last 10 Designated Player signings, looking at their stats from the season immediately preceding joining Orlando City to see how they filled those spots recently (the table below is from Opta’s tracking on fbref.com across all competitions, and as a reminder, Opta only allocates assists to the player who made the final pass to the goal scorer):

PlayerNationalityClub LocationAgeMins. PlayedG+A / 90
Dom DwyerUSA via EnglandUSA262,2440.52
Sacha KljestanUSAUSA312,5820.38
Josué ColmánParaguayParaguay181,9840.05
NaniPortugalPortugal311,772*0.66
Mauricio PereyraUruguayRussia282,2200.36
Facundo TorresUruguayUruguay202,4970.36
Ercan KaraAustriaAustria251,728*0.63
Martín OjedaArgentinaArgentina233,6300.62
Luis MurielColombiaItaly326,99*0.90
Marco PašalićCroatiaCroatia231,359*0.46
Average25.92,627**0.47
  • *These players came from European clubs during the middle of their season, so they are minutes played through half of a full season.
  • **In order to get a season-long average for minutes played, I doubled the totals from the players who came from Europe, and kept the others as they were.

Taking a look at that list of players and their performances during the season before they arrived in Orlando, we see that while the average age ends up at nearly 26, that is because the club signed four young (ages 18-23) players, two peak age players (24-29) and four older players (30+). Unsurprisingly, these players were logging a lot of minutes at their clubs and, aside from Colmán, they were contributing goals at a decent rate. At just 18 years old, Colmán is an age outlier on this list, and removing his stats lifts the average goals + assists per 90 minutes to 0.51.

Is Orlando City going to look for an attacking player who is 26 years old, on pace to play (or played, if he was in a league with a calendar like MLS) around 2,600 minutes, and contributes a goal every other game?

Probably not, because as both Orlando City and the overall caliber of play in MLS have improved in recent years, the club will want to target higher performing players with its valuable Designated Player slots. The rumor mill has been heavy around Richarlison (28 years old, plays in England, 0.47 G+A/90) and Robert Lewandoski (36 years old, plays in Spain, 0.89 G+A/90), and while those two and the aforementioned Griezmann (34 years old, plays in Spain, 0.76 G+A/90) definitely would all be the club’s biggest signing since Nani in terms of name recognition, there are also questions about if the Lions want to sign a left wing, attacking midfielder, or striker, and do they want someone who wants to be here for a few years (like Pereyra) or someone who wants to use MLS as a stepping stone in their career (like Torres)?

Either way, the expectations in Orlando have been raised during the Óscar Pareja era, and with the club clearly leaning into the South American pipeline more and more and with those raised expectations, I expect the club to look for a player from South America who is playing a lot of minutes at a club in one of the world’s top 25 leagues (using Opta’s world rankings), who is contributing goals at a rate of around two-thirds of a goal per 90 minutes (sorry Richarlison, though in league play he is at 0.70, so we could just look the other way on those other competitions), and is in the age range of 23-31, allowing for the potential for the player to be sold on in the future.

There are some great players who hit all of those benchmarks (including one Martín “don’t confuse me with Braian, I’m the offensive” Ojeda), and while players like Colombia’s/Bayern Munich’s Luis Díaz and Brazil’s/Real Madrid’s Vinicius Júnior likely have little to no interest in MLS at this point in their careers, fbref.com’s database spit out 38 players who qualify under the above parameters I set out.

Let’s remove the players already in MLS, since they likely are not going to switch teams at this point of the season, and also the following players who are either far too expensive (more than $20 million, according to transfermarkt’s estimated value) or already succeeding far too well in elite leagues: Díaz, Vini Jr., Julián Álvarez (Atlético Madrid), Antony (Real Betis), old friend Cucho Hernández (Real Betis), Kaio Jorge (Cruzeiro), José Manuel López (Palmeiras), Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan), Pedro (Flamengo), Luis Javier Suárez (Sporting Lisbon), Igor Thiago (Brentford), and Rodrigo Zalazar (Braga).

Once we take all of those out, we are left with a list that contains 21 players, at whom I believe the club will take a long look for the soon-to-be-open Designated Player slot (the list shows the player, his nationality, Transfermarkt’s estimated market value, and where he is currently playing):

  • Giorgian De Arrascaeta, Uruguay, $17.6 million, Flamengo (Brazil Série A)
  • Mauricio, Brazil, $14 million, Palmeiras (Brazil Série A)
  • Marcelino Núñez, Chile, $10.5 million, Ipswich (England Championship)
  • Ángel Correa, Argentina, $10.5 million, Tigres (Mexico Liga MX)
  • Clayton, Brazil, $9.4 million, Rio Ave (Portugal Primeira Liga)
  • Talisca, Brazil, $9.4 million, Fenerbahçe (Turkey Süper Lig)
  • Brian Rodríguez, Uruguay, $7.6 million, América (Mexico Liga MX)
  • Juan Brunetta, Argentina, $7.6 million, Tigres (Mexico Liga MX)
  • Miguel Merentiel, Uruguay, $7 million, Boca Juniors (Argentina Liga Profesional)
  • Diber Cambindo, Colombia, $6.4 million, León (Mexico Liga MX)
  • Nicolás Castro, Argentina, $6.4 million, Toluca (Mexico Liga MX)
  • André Luiz, Brazil, $4.7 million, Rio Ave (Portugal Primeira Liga)
  • Oscar Estupiñan, Colombia, $4.4 million, FC Juárez (Mexico Liga MX)
  • Rafael Elias, Brazil, $3.7 million, Kyoto Sanga (Japan J1 League)
  • Rafael Ratão, Brazil, $3.5 million, Cerezo Osaka (Japan J1 League)
  • Léo Ceará, Brazil, $2.9 million, Kashima Antlers (Japan J1 League)
  • Jesús Ramírez, Venezuala, $2.3 million, Nacional (Portugal Primeira Liga)
  • Emiliano Gómez, Uruguay, $2.3 million, Puebla (Mexico Liga MX)
  • Lucas Fernandes, Brazil, $1.4 million, Cerezo Osaka (Japan J1 League)
  • Alfonso Trezza, Uruguay, $1.2 million, Arouca (Portugal Primeira Liga)
  • Jay-Roy Grot, Suriname, $900,000, Odense (Denmark Superliga)
  • Maurides, Brazil, $500,000, Radomiak Radom (Poland Ekstraklasa)

I will not pretend to be an expert on these players, but this is the list of those who qualified under the parameters I outlined earlier, which means they are in the prime of their careers and good goal-contributing form, and therefore should be of interest to the Orlando City front office, especially if any of them are looking for new opportunities in a different league.

I am sure the club will consider an even wider swath of players, including those like Richarlison, who just missed out via my hypothetical parameters, or players like Brazil’s/Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus, who was injured all of last season, so he did not have any data to evaluate. Orlando City also found success by dipping into the European market with Nani and Pašalić, and so the Lions will certainly not exclude Europeans from their search — or players from any continent for that matter. And while Orlando has never spent a huge amount on a player, maybe the Wilf family really will get out that blank check and go above $20 million, which opens up the landscape for more top-level players to acquire.

In the coming days, we will surely hear about what type of player the club wants with that third spot, and see if that profile falls into the range that I found from who the team has signed recently, or if Ricardo Moreira goes in a different direction entirely. I am looking forward to seeing who comes in and joins the club, because if Orlando can acquire another high-level producer and a finally healthy Duncan McGuire returns to his form from his first two seasons, the team record of 63 goals scored during the 2025 regular season might no longer be the team record after 2026.

If so, then I think that the Eastern Conference final will be sending a répondez s’il-vous-plaît (you might be more familiar with the acronym RSVP) to the Lions this year.

Vamos Orlando!

Continue Reading

Trending