Orlando City signed Uruguayan winger Facundo Torres as a Young Designated Player on Jan. 24, 2022. After transitioning from a YDP to a standard Designated Player, Torres signed a new contract Jan. 10 through the 2026 season with options for 2027 and 2028. It seemed Torres had embraced the city and the club and was making a commitment to being an Orlando City leader for years to come, but things can, and do, change, and that time may be coming to an end.

For the third straight season, Torres ended up the leader of the Lions’ attack, but he also got off to a slow start in the season’s first half for the third time in as many years in Orlando. The slow starts are perplexing to Torres, the club, and the fan base, but everyone seems to forget that when the summer arrives and he becomes one of the league’s best players — something he did again in 2024.

It’s time to look back at what could be the final season in purple (more on that below) for the club’s all-time leading goal scorer.

Statistical Breakdown

Torres played in 32 of Orlando City’s 34 games during the regular season, starting a career-high 30 and playing a career-high 2,642 minutes. The Uruguayan equaled a career high with 14 goals during the league season to lead the club, adding six assists, which placed him fifth on the team in helpers. His 63 shots and 30 shots on target also led Orlando City. Torres completed 87.9% of his 1,322 passes, and he tied Nico Lodeiro for second on the club with 46 key passes. His 19 completed crosses were a career low, and he added 12 successful long balls, which was by far a career low — 17 below his 2022 total and a whopping 25 fewer than last year. Those low numbers in the last two categories may be a product of playing with a different style striker in Ramiro Enrique for a good chunk of 2024 than he played with the previous two seasons. On the defensive end, he recorded 29 tackles, 13 interceptions, 11 clearances, and one blocked shot. Torres committed 19 fouls, suffered 47 — second most on the team behind Cesar Araujo — and picked up three yellow cards.

In the postseason, Torres appeared in, and started, all five of Orlando’s matches, playing 88 minutes in the opener against Charlotte and going the full 90 the rest of the way for a total of 448 minutes. The Designated Player scored two goals without an assist on 13 shot attempts, with seven on target. He scored in the penalty shootout win in Game 3 against Charlotte after not participating in the Game 2 shootout loss on the road, where he would presumably have been the fifth shooter for Orlando. He completed 87.9% of his 239 passes, including nine key passes and three successful crosses. He provided an interception and three clearances on the defensive end. He committed three fouls, drew five, and wasn’t booked.

Torres played in all four of Orlando’s Concacaf Champions Cup matches, starting three of them and playing a total of 244 minutes. He scored three goals and added an assist, attempting four shots and putting three of those on target. The winger completed 84.3% of his 102 passes, including four key passes and an accurate cross. He chipped in a clearance on the defensive end, committed one foul while drawing three, and was not booked.

In the 2024 Leagues Cup, Torres started all three of Orlando City’s matches and played 240 minutes. He scored a goal, assisted on two others, and scored on his penalty attempt in the shootout loss to Cruz Azul. He wasn’t his usual self in the competition, firing eight shots but only putting one of them on target. He was more accurate in the buildup than his final product in the tournament, completing an impressive 90.3% of his 113 passes, including five key passes and an accurate cross. He didn’t record any defensive statistics. As far as discipline, Torres committed one foul, drew four on his opponents, and wasn’t booked.

Best Game

Torres had a number of candidates for this category, including four matches with braces across the various competitions. I’m going to go with his two-goal effort in a 3-0 home win over Nashville SC on Aug. 31. The Lions were coming off a lethargic and demoralizing 3-0 road loss at Sporting Kansas City out of the Leagues Cup break and needed a spark to regain the form it had during a five-game unbeaten run going into the midseason tournament.

Who better to lead the team to a bounce-back win than the team’s talisman? Torres contributed a strong outing to lead Orlando City to a dominant win, scoring twice and putting three of his four shot attempts on target. He passed well all night, completing 37 of 41 (90.2%). He contributed one clearance on the defensive end to help keep the clean sheet and committed one foul but wasn’t booked for it.

Ojeda’s smart defensive play and first-touch pass set up Ivan Angulo to score the opening goal early, setting the stage for Torres to take over and finish off Nashville. Just four minutes after Angulo opened the scoring, Torres was part of the buildup for his first goal of the night, sending a clever and perfectly weighted ball out wide on the right to Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, who sent a cross toward the back post near the top of the six. Angulo was waiting for it, but Torres had continued his run to that spot and met the ball in the air, volleying it down off the ground and past Joe Willis to make it 2-0 in the 14th minute.

But one wasn’t enough for Torres, who nearly scored in the 51st minute on a chip shot that Willis just got a piece of, knocking it onto the roof of the net.

Torres killed off the game in the 85th minute. The play started in the back, with Pedro Gallese sending a long ball to the right, where he had both Duncan McGuire and Nico Lodeiro against a pair of Nashville defenders. McGuire did well to wall off his defender and Lodeiro took the ball into the right corner before cutting it back to the striker. McGuire spotted the late-arriving Torres on the left and sent in a great pass, putting him 1-v-1 against Willis. Torres hit the shot above Willis, but with power and perfect placement, putting it under the crossbar to make it 2-0.

It was a memorable night for Orlando City fans and one of Torres’ strongest performances in his time in purple.

2024 Final Grade

The Mane Land awarded Torres a composite rating of 8.5 out of 10 for the 2024 season, which is a slight step forward from the 8 out of 10 he received both last year and in 2022. If Torres could ever start a season the way he plays from summer until the end of the year, he’d truly have a special season. As it is, 20 regular-season goal contributions is a solid return, considering how the first half of the year went. One improvement this year was that there were a few — not many, but some — moments when he produced with his weaker right foot, which is not something he has done much in the past.

It was a historic season for Torres as well, as he became the club’s all-time leading goal scorer in the MLS era on Oct. 2 against the Philadelphia Union with his 45th across all competitions, breaking Cyle Larin’s mark. On Nov. 9, he scored against Charlotte to take sole ownership of the club’s all-time combined USL and MLS goal-scoring mark, breaking Dom Dwyer’s record by notching his 47th across all competitions.

2025 Outlook

While Torres is under contract for 2025 and beyond, it’s impossible to ignore the reports of great interest from both Brazilian top flight side Palmeiras and Liga MX club Cruz Azul. Orlando City may not want to lose its career leader in goals, but ultimately these things are up to the player in our game. Although the Lions got closer than ever to a championship this season, Torres may feel that the club can’t get over the hump and it’s time for a change. Aside from financially, there doesn’t seem to be an advantage in going from Orlando City to either team if his ultimate goal is to play in Europe, but a financial incentive might be enough. Palmeiras would at least offer a shorter trip home for international competition for the Uruguayan. It seems like it’ll be Palmeiras — and soon.

Amid reports from reliable members of the media, it’s fair to assume Torres will not be back with Orlando City in 2025, although as we’ve seen, a deal isn’t done until it’s done, and even when it’s seemingly done, it can still fall apart (especially if that deal is with Blackburn Rovers). On last week’s episode of The Mane Land PawedCast, I put his departure at 50/50, but it seems likelier every day, so I’ll put the current likelihood around 85% and possibly higher.

If Torres returns for 2025, he’ll be the team’s talisman once again and I wouldn’t expect anything to change about his role. If he transfers out, the club will use its record transfer fee to bolster the squad however it can. The profit would be a tidy one for Orlando City, and selling players for higher fees than the Lions paid is a good way to lure a new Designated Player to the City Beautiful to take Torres’ place. A sale might give Orlando a way to play Muriel and Ojeda together, which would be great for whoever is playing striker, the two play makers would both need to increase their goal production in 2025 to replace what the team would lose with Torres. This is especially critical in the first half of the season, when McGuire is recovering from shoulder surgery.

For now, we wait for the other shoe to drop (or not) on what Torres is going to do next year. It seems particularly cruel to lose the 24-year-old as he’s just entering the prime of his career and has turned in such a productive season, but that’s part of life as the supporter of an MLS team.

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)
• Shakur Mohammed (12/12/24)
• Luis Muriel (12/13/24)
• David Brekalo (12/14/24)