Regular readers of this site know that I am the resident FC Dallas fan. I admit that I was not a very good at that job in the 2020 season because, well, 2020. I became a bigger fan of making it through each week, and a few things got lost in the sauce. I’m going to try to get right in 2021, but I make no promises. I can’t. At any rate, maybe you also have some catching up to do. Here then are a few notes about FCD’s offseason thus far. New season starts, God willing and the creek don’t rise, in March.
• Bryan Reynolds heads to Juventus, via Benevento. The Serie A giant has finally, after talking about it for seemingly forever, signed the 19-year-old FC Dallas right back. But they don’t have room on the roster at the moment for another non-EU player. So he had been loaned out for the rest of the season to Benevento, who are in only their second season in Italy’s top flight. But they do have an absolutely cracking badge and nickname (The Sorcerers). When Reynolds does make his way to Juventus, he will join Weston McKennie, who came up through the vaunted FC Dallas academy. FCD will get $10 million in the deal.
• Michael Barrios is traded to Colorado Rapids. The pocket-size (5-foot-3, not counting bleach-blond mohawk) winger joins former teammate Kellyn Acosta, in exchange for an international roster spot and a SuperDraft pick swap. It’s a good deal for the club, but it does bum me out, because Barrios was one of the last links to the 2016 squad that won the Supporters’ Shield and U.S. Open Cup, and would have likely won the MLS Cup, too, save for an injury to Mauro Diaz. But he was superfluous because they had already signed his replacement.
• Jáder Obrian joins from Colombia’s Rionegro Águilas. The 25-year-old scored 13 goals in 22 matches this season, and plays on the right side, where Barrios used to roam. He is super fast, plays direct, and is nicknamed “The Soldier.” But I assume you already knew that based on our shared familiarity with Colombia’s Categoría Primera A. As it happens, Obrian began his professional career in 2015 at Uniautónoma FC alongside … Michael Barrios.
