We’ve (almost) made it to the end of another week, with Orlando City’s final preseason match against the Colorado Rapids looming large Saturday night. The season opener will be here before you know it, and things will only speed up from there. For the final time this preseason, let’s take a look back at the week that was and talk about what I liked, and what I didn’t.

Likes

A New Signing

Orlando City announced the long-awaited signing of Brazilian center back Iago on Saturday, making him the third and presumably final MLS U22 Initiative arrival of the off-season. While he’s only 20 years old, he’s likely to be one of the two starting center backs on opening day alongside David Brekalo, so him getting a couple weeks of preseason to get settled in is vital. It of course would have been ideal for him to have even more time, but transfer dealings with Brazilian clubs rarely seem to be straightforward affairs, and two weeks is better than none at all. Crucially, Iago played over 5,000 minutes for Flamengo’s senior and U-20 sides, so he’s no stranger to the professional game, and hopefully that helps him to hit the ground running as a Lion.

A New Kit

Continuing the trend of shiny new things, the Lions unveiled their new away kit on Tuesday. It’s a gold jersey with purple shorts that’s been dubbed the ‘Sunken Treasure’ kit, and it’s the club’s first jersey to heavily use the team’s secondary color of gold. All things considered, I quite like the new threads. As with a lot of jerseys these days, the finer details like the Lion in the background of the front and the two patches, won’t be visible unless you’re up close to it. That being said, those details look pretty nice in the close-up shots of the jersey that the club provided, and when viewed from a distance, the shirt is striking. I also like the decision to go with purple shorts, as I think going with gold all the way would be a bit too much.

Dislikes

All Quiet on the Rumor Front

Things have gone a little quiet when it comes to transfer rumors regarding Orlando City. The club still has a Designated Player slot that it intends to use on an attacker, but we haven’t seen any hints as far as who the brass might be looking at. It’s not necessarily a reason to panic, as the team has made it a habit to be methodical in the transfer window and hasn’t been afraid to take its time pursuing players it thinks will be the right fit, rather than rushing business and potentially making an unwise signing as a result. All the same, it’s always nice to hear that a specific name is being pursued, particularly when OCSC still has a DP slot burning a hole in its proverbial pocket in addition to some areas of the field that need to be strengthened with additional depth. I trust the business to get done and done well, but I’m also not going to pretend I wouldn’t love a juicy signing rumor or two right about now.

With a little luck, next week will bring a couple of positive transfer rumors and three points to start the season off on a strong note. Vamos Orlando!

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.

Likes

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.

Dislikes

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!

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!