A deeper meaning of FC Dallas' record breaking acquisition of striker Petar Musa?
Yes, it means FCD's spending dynamic is evolving - but is there even more?
I’ve seen and heard a lot of takes on FC Dallas’ record setting acquisition of Croatian striker Petar Musa. And I haven’t seen or heard any worth fighting about.
Yep, They beat out beat out Euro teams for his signature, which seems meaningful.
Yes, it’s proof positive that the club’s spending dynamic is evolving. It has to, frankly, to keep up in a Messi-influenced environment, where clubs are scrambling to exploit this window of added exposure to all things MLS.
It further cements an adjusted role for Jesus Ferreira, who will benefit from positioning more suited to his individual and highly useful skill set (his “player profile” in coaching parlance)
But if you squint a little, you can see something else at work, too. Nobody at the club (I’m the radio broadcast analyst and sometimes create content for FC Dallas) has said this to me specifically, so it’s just conjecture. But it’s educated conjecture, I’d say.
I wonder if FC Dallas president Dan Hunt and his technical staff see a “cycle” that’s reaching its peak and needs to be fed and nurtured with some immediacy. Let me explain:
I’ll take you back quickly to the end of the 2018 season, when Oscar Pareja resigned. Everyone loved (still does, really) “Papi.” And he loved the club. So why did he leave? One reason, among quite a few, was the moment of the “cycle.”
He knew the club was entering a new one, sort of hitting “refresh.” A couple of vets were getting older, and the way forward would be built around the young likes of Ferreira, Ricardo Pepi, Paxton Pomykal and others. Same club. Same MO, building around the academy and imports still progressing through their development years. So he understood how the timing looked right for himself personally – and perhaps for the club to find a new boss to guide the new cycle.
Back to today: The current cycle – we’ll call it the Estévez-Ferreira cycle, since those are the majority principals here – is reaching critical mass. Estévez enters his third year in charge, and the roster is setting up with a nice balance of youth, experience and players-in-their-prime. (Two long-term injuries to talented youngsters and still being thin at center back remain pressure points, but that’s another discussion.)
Ferreira has pledged his desire to help FCD climb that ultimate mountain of achievement, the MLS Cup that eluded his dad. But the wanderlust for Europe was bound to kick in sooner or later, and apparently it’s here.
Paul Arriola and Sebastian Lletget are quality MLS starters in their prime (28 and 31 years old). You could add Paxton Pomykal and Marco Farfan to that list, although they are younger.
Asier Illarramendi was a late 2023 revelation. He still seems to have energy, enthusiasm and, most critically, the legs and lungs of a younger man — but its hard to say if we’ll say the same a year from now. Nkosi Tafari is a leader and the team’s best defender. But he’s not far from MLS free agency eligibility, so there’s that.
Then there’s Maarten Paes, FCD’s best player last year, all things considered. At 25 years old he’s about to go into his third year at FC Dallas. Paes seems to love Texas, but given how much his stock has risen in two seasons at Toyota Stadium, who could say where the Dutchman might want to take his career? He’ll have options.
There’s a little more, but you get the point. This “cycle” might be coming in for a landing; Alan Velasco returning later this season, if it happens, could be icing on this nicely baked cake.
That’s where Musa comes in. Not just the acquisition of Musa and his particular skill set; clubs are always looking to improve collectively and to fill gaps specifically. That’s day-to-day business at every MLS address, of course.
They just aren’t setting club records to get there. The reported $11 million fee doesn’t just break the FCD record, it hammers it pretty good. And that’s why I wonder if FCD braintrust sees the coming campaign as one worthy of piling on a bit? The Hunts spend money the way most of us scoot across an icy sidewalk: very, very carefully. If they are pushing big checks across the table, there’s good reason for it.
We’ll talk more (in later TexasXI posts) about what this does tactically, about other knock-on effects of Thursday’s big news, about how it might impact other personnel around Toyota Stadium, etc. For now, it’s enough that things just got a little more exciting around Frisco grounds. And you wonder if FCD leaders see 2024, specifically, as a year where big runs at achievement can be made?