The fourth week of Orlando City’s preseason preparations is (almost) in the books. The Lions will be kicking off the 2026 MLS season against the New York Red Bulls in a little over two weeks’ time, which seems impossibly near at hand. Let’s take a look at some of the good and some of the bad from the week that was.

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Nolan Miller Earns a Contract

OCSC announced on Wednesday that it signed 2026 MLS SuperDraft selection Nolan Miller to a deal through the 2026 season with several additional option years tacked on. The center back was the ninth overall pick in the draft, and it’s good to see another high selection earning a contract after Harvey Sarajian was the first from the current draft class to do so back in January. Part of the motivation behind the move may be due to Orlando’s center back situation that we’ll touch on later, but either way, the youngster has his foot in the door and will have a chance to get on the field, contribute, and potentially extend his stay in the City Beautiful.

Iago Reportedly on Track

It’s been a trying week for Orlando City fans (more on that below), but another piece of news to be happy about came on Wednesday, when Oscar Pareja noted during his media availability that the team is continuing to work towards finalizing the signing of center back Iago from Flamengo.

This is one that’s been rumored for awhile, and devoted social media users may have even seen specific numbers thrown around, like a transfer fee of $1.5 million and Flamengo retaining a sell-on clause of 50%. Whether those are accurate or not, only time will tell, but for now it’s good to hear that talks are ongoing. While it would be nice for the process to go a little quicker, signing players from Brazilian teams seems to be a bit tricky at times, so it isn’t necessarily surprising that this deal is taking its sweet time. Hopefully negotiations wrap up quickly and Iago can join the Lions sooner rather than later though, because as we’re about to discuss, the team is almost certainly going to need him.

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Robin Jansson’s Injury

Robin Jansson had surgery to repair a Jones fracture in his right foot. While no specific recovery timeline was announced and it’s difficult to estimate one since we don’t know when exactly the surgery happened, this is not great news so close to the start of the season. David Brekalo is currently the only experienced center back available to take the field, and we’re 15 days away from the first game of the season. A lot can change in that amount of time, but it’s a nervy place to be regardless. I also don’t love the fact that the injury is a Jones fracture. The fifth metatarsal, where the break occurred, is an area of the body that’s notorious for not getting great blood flow when compared to other bones, and Jones fractures have a reputation of being tricky injuries to heal. The captain is in good hands with the club’s staff and the good folks at Orlando Health, but I would caution restraint when it comes to expecting him to make a speedy return to the field.

A Signing Falls Through

The news of Jansson’s injury might have been slightly easier to bear if not for this piece of news that Tom Bogert broke on Monday.

The wording that the deal fell apart after a failed medical implies that all of the particulars were sorted between the clubs and the player, and that it was the very last hurdle that proved its undoing. That’s brutal enough on the face of things, as it deprived Orlando of a starting-caliber center back who is only 25 and would presumably have time to grow and improve at the club for a number of years. When Jansson’s injury is taken into account, it hurts even worse. As I said earlier, a lot can happen in two weeks, but due to unfortunate and uncontrollable circumstances the Lions’ center back corps is looking positively threadbare at the time of this writing.

While it’s very easy to get lost in the negatives, this week wasn’t all bad. Losing one potential center back and then a nailed-on starter and club captain in the space of two days hurts, there’s no getting around it. But on the bright side, a young player will get a chance to prove himself, an MLS U22 Initiative signing will reportedly be on the way sooner or later, and there’s still some time for additional reinforcements to arrive before the season opener arrives. Keep your heads up, take things one day at a time, and pray for good things from the soccer gods. Vamos Orlando!

Just like that, the third week of Orlando City’s preseason preparations is almost in the books. As we’ve done at the end of each of the two previous weeks, let’s take a look back at some things I liked and some things I didn’t from this past week.

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A New Signing Rumor

Technically this happened last Friday, but it was after my previous preseason story had already published, so we run with it this week. Tom Bogert has reported that Orlando is close to signing center back Dusan Stojinovic from Jagiellonia Białystok in the Polish first division.

If signed, Stojinovic would become the second Slovenian on the team alongside David Brekalo and would also help to reinforce a position of need for the Lions. Bogert’s blurb is also notable for mentioning that the team is still working on signing Brazilian center back Iago, but he profiles as more of a younger piece that won’t be expected to start right away, while Stojinovic’s experience seems to point to him being in serious contention for a starting spot.

Glimpses of Goals

A drawback of this preseason that I spoke about a couple weeks ago was the lack of preseason friendlies that are open to the public. That means that while I wouldn’t ordinarily take any extra notice when it comes to footage of a preseason goal, I dissected this one a fair amount.

The clip came from a tilt against Forge FC down in Cancun that hadn’t been previously announced on the team’s preseason schedule, and there’s plenty to like here. Ivan Angulo shows some quick feet and makes the right decision in the final third with an accurate ball into the box, which Duncan McGuire dummies and Marco Pasalic slots home. You can only glean so much from a preseason game, but it’s nice to see a goal being scored from open play, and frankly it’s just nice to see the Lions in action. Perhaps it says something that I’m this happy to see video of a goal from a closed-door preseason friendly, but I’m choosing to look on the bright side and be happy that we get to see it to begin with.

Dislikes

Alex Freeman’s Farewell

The news that Orlando City fans have dreaded for months has now come to pass, as it was announced on Thursday afternoon that the Lions have sold Alex Freeman to Villarreal. The writing has been growing clearer on the wall for awhile now, with reports that the fullback didn’t want to sign a new contract, and that OCSC’s last remaining MLS U22 Initiative slot would be used elsewhere. It was hard not to hold out hope that he’d stay until at least the summer window, but he joins the Spanish side immediately. I, like presumably the majority of Orlando fans, am thrilled for the player, but hate it for the team. The Lions are now extremely thin at right back following the earlier exits of Kyle Smith and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson. The upside is that the reported initial fee of $4 million gives the Lions plenty of cash to play with when it comes to signing not just a replacement right back, but strengthening other areas of the team as well. Regardless, it sucks to have gotten only one year of an excellent player that is by all accounts, just as pleasant a person off the field. I wish him all the best, but I can’t say I’m happy to have him go.

That’s all I’ve got for you this week, everyone. Stay warm with the cold(er) weather that’s due to come through this weekend, and I’ll see you back here next Friday. Vamos Orlando!

Another week of preseason preparations for Orlando City are in the books, so I’m back once again to bring you things what I liked, and what I didn’t from the week that was.

Likes

The Rumored Pursuit of Iago

Tom Bogert started the week off on a good note for OCSC fans with the news that Orlando City is reportedly well along in talks to sign a center back.

On the face of it, there’s plenty to like about this rumored signing. Iago is a young player with lots of upside, but who’s already captained a Brazilian youth side at an international tournament. He would also fill a position of need for the Lions, as center back depth is practically non-existent at the moment following Orlando’s off-season moves. If he does get signed, then more work would still need to be done to address the position, perhaps by signing a proven MLS-level player, but it’s a good rumor to hear right now.

Sarajian Signs

Technically, this happened last Friday, but it was after my column published. It’s still good to see Orlando sign Harvey Sarajian, its first selection in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft. The young midfielder was the first of four first-round selections for OCSC this year and the first of the picks to be signed. While he likely represents a more longterm project rather than an immediate contributor, he’s still pretty young and should get plenty of time with Orlando City B and potentially some reserve minutes with the first team as well. The Lions have a solid history with draft picks under Oscar Pareja, and whether Sarajian follows in that mold or not, it’s still nice to see that he showed enough to land himself a place in the Orlando City setup for the foreseeable future.

Dislikes

No U22 for Alex

The downside of the rumored Iago signing is that if he does join the team as an MLS U22 Initiative player, then it almost certainly scuppers the possibility of putting Alex Freeman on a U-22 deal. In turn, that makes the young USMNT fullback signing a new contract with the team unlikely. Make no mistake, if Freeman continues his level of play from 2025 or improves on it, then he won’t be in Orlando much longer — and rightfully so. That being said, if he’s on a longer-term deal, then it increases the amount of money that the Lions would get in a potential sale. The nightmare scenario would be losing such a talented player for free, although I think the most likely case is that he gets a move in the summer, especially if he makes the World Cup roster and shows well on a global stage. Either way, his contract status and how it affects an eventual sale is something to watch, and not having him on a new or extended deal is a blow.

Torres Goes to Texas

While nothing is official yet, it looks like Facundo Torres will be coming back to Major League Soccer…to join Austin FC.

Now, it’s not that I necessarily wanted Torres to return to Orlando City. Marco Pasalic had a solid first year as his replacement, and given how one-footed they both are, there isn’t much chance of one of them moving to the left wing. It’s still going to be odd seeing him playing for Austin though —sort of like seeing your ex with a new significant other for the first time. Just because you don’t want them back doesn’t mean you don’t get a weird feeling about it. Plus, the $9.5 million fee is significantly less than the $25-30 million that was getting tossed around last week when he was linked with a move to Benfica. The Lions still stand to net around $1.4 million due to the sell-on fee that was negotiated when he was sold to Palmeiras, but if 15% of 30 million was on the table…well, you do the math. This is just a strange one all around, and I’m glad Orlando and Austin aren’t set to play each other this year.

There you have it, folks. I’ll see you back here next week, and hopefully we’ll have a lot of good things to talk over. Vamos Orlando!