Orlando City Parts Ways with Designated Player Luis Muriel

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.