Orlando City Transfers Striker Ramiro Enrique to Saudi Side Al-Kholood

Ramiro Enrique’s time in Orlando has come to an end. Orlando City announced today the previously reported transfer of the Argentine striker to Saudi Arabian top-flight club Al-Kholood. The club did not disclose the terms of the transfer, which was reported to be around $3 million.

“Ramiro has been a true professional throughout his time in Orlando,” Orlando City General Manager and Sporting Director Ricardo Moreira said in a club press release. “His dedication to the club, our staff, and his teammates has been exemplary. His goals in key moments will always be remembered, and as much as he will be missed, this was an offer both the club and Ramiro could not refuse. We thank him for all his contributions and wish him nothing but success in the next chapter of his career.”

The Lions signed the 24-year-old — then just 22 — on Jan. 30, 2023, from Argentina top-flight side Club Atlético Banfield. Enrique signed for three years through the end of 2025 with club options for 2026 and 2027. During his time in purple, Enrique made 102 appearances (43 starts) across all competitions, at times earning consistent starts, but not maintaining enough consistency to fully cement himself in the starting XI. He was, however, adept at providing energy and goals off the bench, offering teams a different look than other forwards on the club. He scored 26 goals and added seven assists in an Orlando City uniform. He departs for Ar Rass, Saudi Arabia as Orlando’s sixth-highest career scorer.

Enrique came up through Banfield’s academy system and inked his first professional contract back in 2019. He made his professional debut on Feb. 12, 2021 and went on to make 73 appearances for Banfield across all competitions. In that time, he scored 12 goals and notched three assists and has experience in the Copa Sudamericana, South America’s version of the Europa League.

His legacy as a Lion will largely be his role as a foil for the Columbus Crew — an opponent Orlando City will host on Oct. 4. He’ll also be remembered for his aerial prowess and good holdup play despite being only 5-foot-7.

What It Means for Orlando City

With this transfer, Orlando City won’t have to make a decision on whether to pick up his 2026 option, but the Lions likely would have done so, given he has produced and seems to be well-liked by the coaching staff and his teammates. He wasn’t going to turn 25 until 2026, so he should have been eligible to remain a U22 Initiative player for one more year, so his base salary of $363,646 and total compensation of $421,363 should have worked within the club’s budget even if the option year had a provision for salary bump.

Enrique’s transfer opens up an MLS U22 Initiative slot, but in the short term, the move weakens the Lions’ depth at striker. Oscar Pareja has gone with an unconventional pairing of Luis Muriel and Martin Ojeda up top in his formation for the most part this season. Duncan McGuire recently returned from his second shoulder injury in less than a year. McGuire has made two appearances in Leagues Cup since returning, but has only totaled 23 minutes across those two matches. Orlando City will need McGuire to return to form as quickly as possible with Enrique no longer available to eat up minutes.

Beyond just his ability to score goals, Enrique was a good pressing forward and brought tremendous energy to the pitch, especially when entering games late, when his speed and ability to quickly change directions created all kinds of problems for the opposition.

When combined with the Lions bringing in only Tyrese Spicer and Adrian Marin during the summer window, it’s hard to view the secondary window as anything other than underwhelming for a team that got within a game of playing for the MLS Cup a year ago and that has spent much of this season chasing the top four in the Eastern Conference. That is still within reach for the Lions if they can get rolling again after three consecutive losses and no wins in four matches across all competitions, although it’s fair to say a busy August and heavy travel affected the team toward the end of the month, and some creative officiating was largely (but not entirely) at fault in the Leagues Cup road loss to Inter Miami.

The Lions now move forward with an open U22 Initiative slot but without one of the team’s more dependable goal scorers. Orlando will need to rely more on its three Designated Players and on McGuire to return to full fitness and his best form quickly to avoid a dropoff in production. The striker depth now starts with Muriel and McGuire, followed by less proven players like Tyrese Spicer and Nico Rodriguez, with Shak Mohammed as an emergency option.

Enrique had his green card, so this move does not open up an international roster slot.