Transfer activity in the league is really heating up.
FC Augsburg
announced they've signed Ecuadorian NT defensive midfielder Carlos Gruezo from FC Dallas, as has been rumored for a little while. The
report is that FCD is getting $4.5m, possibly increasing to $6.2m, with a 20% sell-on clause.
This is really nice work from FCD. They bought Gruezo 3.5 years ago on the cheap from VfB Stuttgart, coached him up a bit, got a lot of good minutes, and now are cashing out before his deal runs out in the winter. Meanwhile, academy products Brandon Servania and Edwin Cerrillo have shown fairly well this year and will compete for DM minutes behind Honduran international Bryan Acosta and Paxton Pomykal.
It's probably no secret that I have a big crush on how FC Dallas operates. With their new reserve team humming along, I think they are on the verge of being American soccer's first real academy talent conveyor belt.
Columbus signed 20 year old Costa Rican winger Luis Diaz from Herediano. The Columbus Dispatch says they
spent $1m on him, which is a solid chunk of change in the Central American transfer market. Diaz is spoken of by Costa Rican fans as one of their better prospects from the rising generation. The Crew are awful right now; they've been light on talent and particularly weak on the wings for a while and the loss of Federico Higuain to injury has caused the bottom to fall out.
The Crew also picked up Jamaican forward Romario Williams from Atlanta. He's killed it in USL in the past, but never got much traction at Atlanta. He'll have more opportunities for minutes without being on the same team as Josef Martinez.
Philly signed R.J. Allen as fullback cover. Allen was playing semipro ball in Jersey after getting cut from Orlando last offseason. FC Motown, his NJ club, is interesting — they're coached by a former NYRBer, are littered with one-time pros, and last year they got Dilly Duka after many years in MLS, though he has since moved on to his ancestral homeland and won a title in Albania.