😘🦁 #VamosOrlando pic.twitter.com/BJer9OvIMD— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) December 1, 2020 Defender Antonio Carlos Cunha has completed a permanent transfer from Palmeiras to Orlando City. He was on loan to the club this season. They exercised the option for a permanent transfer, and signed him to a three-year contract with an option for a fourth year. Antonio Carlos was part of a defense that held a club-record 1.09 GAA this season, and also tallied one goal and one assist.
The protected list for today's Expansion Draft: Antonio Carlos Jordan Bender* Daryl Dike^ Pedro Gallese Michael Halliday* Robin Jansson David Loera* Jhegson Méndez Benji Michel* João Moutinho Chris Mueller Nani Andrés Perea Mauricio Pereyra Ruan Rodrigo Schlegel Mason Stajduhar* Júnior Urso ^ = Generation Adidas * = Homegrown Player In both cases, they are automatically protected. Pedro Gallese and Brian Rowe are both unprotected from the crease. Uri Rosell, Tesho Akindele, and Matheus Aias are also unprotected. Austin FC can choose up to five players, and only one from any particular current team. They currently have seven players signed going into today. ******** Additionally, Mason Stajduhar is being loaned to NYCFC for the remainder of the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League. NEWS: Mason Stajduhar has been loaned to NYCFC for their upcoming Concacaf Champions League action at @ExploriaStadium.— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) December 14, 2020 They will be playing their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal home match at Exploria Stadium tonight against UANL Tigres. This year's tournament has been delayed since March. In fact, the tournament semifinal and final will also take place in Orlando. The semifinals will both be on Saturday, and the Final will be next Tuesday. It appears they will all be behind closed doors.
Full-time pic.twitter.com/lRek6LzkWx— Major League Soccer (@MLS) December 16, 2020 Well, Mason's stay with NYCFC was short. Fortunately, he didn't have to actually go anywhere. For the record, he was not on the field at any point in the match. But even if he did start, what good would a clean sheet have done if the Yankees' little brothers couldn't score?
Some other notes that I forgot to mention. It was specifically the news of Antonio Carlos' transfer that prompted me to redo the threads, after all. Buy options were also exercised on Rodrigo Schlegel (from Racing Avellaneda), Andres Perea (from Atletico Nacional), and Alexander Alvarado (from Aucas). Dom Dwyer is now effectively gone, as his contract expired and he has not been re-signed. Options were declined on Robinho, Josue Colman, Alex DeJohn, and Santiago Patiño. All are still members of the team until the end of the year. Patiño is still loaned to Sonora in the new Mexican second tier, so he might at least end up there. Kamal Miller was picked by Austin FC with the last pick in the 2020 Expansion Draft last night. They immediately flipped him to Montreal Impact for GAM. Fans were not happy with the move at all.
NEWS: Robin Jansson has signed a new contract. The Viking has agreed to a two-year deal with two option years. 🛡 #VamosOrlando— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) January 13, 2021 CB Robin Jansson has signed a new two-year contract with Orlando City. Jansson was one of the players City exercised a 2021 option on. This gives him a new two-year contract, plus team options for 2023 and 2024. He led the team in total passes and total successful passes in 2020. He was the only player to play the entire match in all four clean sheets last season.
MLS has released the list of players eligible for the 2021 MLS SuperDraft. Among the available players are three players from UCF, four from USF, two from FGCU, and one from Stetson. ******** 🚨 #SuperDraft News 🚨City has acquired the No. 8 overall pick in the 2021 draft. #VamosOrlando— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) January 21, 2021 EDIT: Orlando City has acquired the #8 pick in the MLS SuperDraft from Portland. They will send back a total of $100,000 in GAM ($75k for 2021, $25k for 2022). They now have three picks in the first round.
Orlando City's 2021 SuperDraft picks: R1-8: Derek Dodson, FW, Georgetown and USL-2 Treasure Coast Tritons R1-19: Rio Hope-Gund, DF, Georgetown and USL-2 Manhattan SC R1-22: Brandon Hackenberg, DF, Penn State and USL-2 Reading United R2-22: Andrew Pannenberg, GK, Wake Forest and USL-2 Charlotte Eagles All our picks were involved in MLS NEXT academies, with Hackenberg coming from the Charlotte Independence system. Dodson was involved with the Chicago Sockers, the same academy that produced Chris Mueller. FC Dallas used our third-round pick (which they acquired in February 2020) to pick DF Mark Salas from North Carolina and USL-2 Denton Diablos. He was originally in their own MLS NEXT academy.
Forward @DarylDike is headed out on a short-term loan to English side @BarnsleyFC.— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) February 1, 2021 Daryl Dike has been loaned to EFL Championship side Barnsley. The loan is described as "short-term", and the Lions retain a conditional right-to-recall. Barnsley is currently dead center in the Championship at 12th place. They are only six points away from the promotion playoff slots, and 13 points clear of relegation.
...aaaaaand he's back. Daryl Dike is returning to Orlando City. Barnsley declined their buy option at the end of his loan. The question is, for how long? There have been rumors about him going elsewhere ever since he began to pop off. There seem to be rumors connecting him to half the Premier League, with transfer fees as high as £15 million. We'll have to see how long the Lions hold on to him. There's no reason to rush him out the door for that phat payday when European leagues are on hiatus for the next 2-3 months.
The youngest player ever signed by City.Welcome to the First Team, Thomas! #VamosOrlando pic.twitter.com/pqwJJgNrLK— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) June 15, 2021 Orlando City has signed defender Thomas Williams to a three-year homegrown contract, with a club option for 2025. At 16 years, 10 months old, he is the youngest player ever signed to our first team. Born and raised in Titusville, he joined the Orlando City Academy in its first MLS class of 2015. He had 10 starts for OCB last season, and had a goal in five starts for the U-17 Academy team prior to his signing. He has also made three appearances for the U-17 USMNT. Thomas will take the number 68.
UPDATE: Orlando City SC Statement Regarding Forward Chris Mueller. Details: https://t.co/kXmv6WZ8P9 pic.twitter.com/LQmBABiKgz— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) July 21, 2021 Chris Mueller is on his last days with Orlando City. It has been announced that he has signed a "pre-contract" with an undisclosed team in Europe, and will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of this season on free transfer. I didn't even know such a thing existed.
Mueller's agreement is with Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership. So we're probably never going to hear from him again after 2021. Even if they leap-frog Celtic for 2nd.