Who Is The Most Productive Striker In Orlando City’s MLS History?

The striker position is one of the most talked about for Orlando City this offseason. The club’s lone natural striker as the roster currently stands is Duncan McGuire, who hasn’t yet returned to the form he showed before suffering a shoulder injury in Charlotte during the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs.

But who is the most productive striker in the club’s MLS history?

The top five strikers in Orlando City’s MLS history are unquestionably Cyle Larin, McGuire, Daryl Dike, Dom Dwyer, and Ercan Kara. In addition to being the only strikers who started regularly at any point in the position, they’re also statistically the most productive.

While all five of these players had their moments for the club, two stand out above the rest.

Orlando City used the first overall pick of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft on Larin, and it wasn’t wasted. The rookie soon took control of the starting striker position, scoring 18 goals in 28 games in all competitions during his first professional season. He never improved those numbers for the Lions — scoring 14 goals in 33 games in 2016 and 12 goals in 28 games in 2017 — but he held the club’s MLS record for career goals scored until it was broken by midfielder Facundo Torres in 2024.

The club traded for Dwyer — a legendary figure from the team’s USL era — in 2018 after former head coach Adrian Heath controversially said Orlando was his “spiritual home.” It was thought Dywer would build on Larin’s success, but he wasn’t as productive. The return only saw Dwyer score 24 goals in 70 matches in all competitions.

After two seasons of underwhelming performances, Dwyer was replaced by rookie Dike in 2020. Dike was only in Orlando for two seasons — including a shortened 2020 campaign — but he was prolific in that time. It was a slow start for the University of Virginia product, scoring eight goals in 22 games during his rookie year. But he took off in 2021, scoring 11 goals in 19 games.

The 2021 season earned Dike a trip to England, where he signed with Championship side West Bromwich Albion. Unfortunately, it’s been a nightmare since his departure as Dike has suffered several injuries.

The Lions tried to replace Dike with Ercan Kara in 2022, with the striker only scoring 18 goals in 53 games over two seasons. They drafted McGuire from Creighton University in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, and he took off immediately, scoring 15 goals during his rookie year. However, after a move to Blackburn Rovers fell apart twice in early 2024, he’s only scored 15 goals over the past two seasons.

An odd addition to this list is Julio Baptista, a friend and former teammate of Kaká, who joined the club briefly in 2016. The Brazilian scored six goals in 24 appearances for a rate of 0.25 goals per game and 0.6593 goals per 90 minutes. While his goals per game are low, that’s due to his lack of playing time. His goals per 90 minutes are the most in the club’s MLS history.

So, who is the most productive of all these players?

Whether you look at goals per game or goals per 90 minutes, two of these players stand out above the rest. In his three seasons in Orlando, Larin scored 44 goals in 89 total games for an average of 0.49 goals per game and 0.5951 goals per 90 minutes.

Dike is slightly behind Larin in goals per game (0.46) in his two seasons and slightly ahead of Larin (0.5987) in goals per 90 minutes. After those two, there’s a significant dropoff.

Dywer and Kara both scored 0.34 goals per game in their tenures with McGuire recording 0.31 goals per game so far. McGuire tops the three players in goals per 90 minutes (0.5747), followed by Kara (0.5201) and Dwyer (0.4199).

As you can see, it’s a toss-up between Larin and Dike when it comes to the most productive striker in the club’s MLS history. You could go either way depending on whether you place greater value on goals per game or goals per 90 minutes. Regardless, the duo is head and shoulders above the rest.

But who would Orlando City bring back if possible?

The answer to that question has less to do with their production in MLS and more to do with their health. Since joining West Brom in January 2022, Dike has missed over 120 games with major hamstring, thigh, and consecutive Achilles tendon injuries. He’s had two surgeries on his ankle, restricting him to only 49 games in four years with the Baggies.

The most productive year for Dike was in the 2022-2023 Championship season, when the then-22-year-old scored seven goals in 23 games. But then the injuries came, with the striker finally recording 10 appearances again last season.

While Larin has been healthier than Dike, he hasn’t provided much more production in Europe. The striker only scored 10 goals in a season once, netting 19 in 38 games for Besiktas in 2020-2021. Since then, he’s bounced around, playing in Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands. He was a regular starter for Mallorca the last two seasons, but only scored 10 goals in 67 appearances.

This year, Larin has played in eight games (one start) for Feyenoord of the Netherlands’ Eredivisie. He’s yet to score for his new club. With the World Cup coming this summer, Larin is reportedly looking for a move that will give him more playing time and help him solidify his position with Canada.

If Orlando City were to attempt to acquire one of these players, Larin would be the better option. He left the club in a bad way — traveling to Besiktas before he was even sold — but all the other people involved are gone. It was also a long time ago, and you would hope he’s a much more mature player.

Meanwhile, Dike has yet to prove he can stay healthy since leaving Orlando. There’s no indication his recurring problems are behind him, which could leave the Lions in a tough spot if they were to reacquire him.

Of course, this is all speculation. The club hasn’t said anything to indicate it is looking to add a striker, though one is certainly needed and Luis Muriel’s departure opens up both a forward vacancy and a Designated Player slot. It appears as though McGuire will be the starter when the season begins as things stand now. But it’s fun to think about what the club might do should it decide to bring back one of the team’s most successful scorers.

Regardless, Larin and Dike remain the two most prolific strikers in Orlando City history. McGuire could catch the duo with production in the near future, and it would certainly help Orlando City if he did. But he’s currently well behind the most successful pair in the club’s MLS history.