DALSportsNation
Our writers cover the rumors and official announcements of outgoing and incoming transfers for FC Dallas and North Texas SC every offseason.

Outgoing

Bryan Reynolds

After over 2 months of speculation, rumors, news, and (almost) confirmations, homegrown defender Bryan Reynolds completed his move to Italian club AS Roma on February 1st, just in time to beat the transfer deadline in Italy. Reynolds was sold for an FC Dallas franchise-record fee, reported as €7 million (roughly $8.3 million). This transfer has been covered extensively, both in this column and elsewhere, so there is little to say at this point besides the fact that Dallas was patient and ended up with a great piece of business that will benefit both club and player. Reynolds will have the remainder of the 20/21 season to settle in with his new club and hope to make his debut appearance in the coming weeks.

Justin Che

Photo: @JustinChe6

Though not officially confirmed by FC Dallas yet, just one day after the Reynolds transfer became official, news broke that another deal involving a homegrown defender got over the line before the deadline, with 17 year old center back Justin Che going on loan to Bayern Munich with an option to buy at the end of the 20/21 season. Che was one of the six players who went to Germany on a training stint at the start of the year, and he clearly impressed the staff at Bayern enough to convince them to make a move. Che follows a similar trajectory to Chris Richards, having never made an appearance for the first team in Dallas before getting loaned to Bayern.

Dallas fans did actually get to see Che represent the club, albeit for the second team in the USL League One play, where anyone who caught a glimpse of him could see that he was destined for bigger and better things soon. Assuming that all goes well for Che, expect to see that buy option exercised by Bayern in the summer window. For the remainder of this season, Che seems likely to get bedded in with Bayern’s U19s, with a chance to play for Bayern II if he can impress.

Brandon Servania and Edwin Cerrillo

http://twitter.com/BrianSciaretta/status/1355185354983288833

Last Friday, it was reported that homegrown midfielders Brandon Servania and Edwin Cerrillo were on trial with Austrian club SKN St. Pölten, with the trial having been facilitated by Bayern Munich. Servania and Cerrillo were both parts of the group, along with the aforementioned Justin Che, that was sent on the training stint to Germany at the start of the year.

Since last week, there has not been any news on Servania and Cerrillo, but the Austrian league’s transfer window does not close until the end of the day on February 8th, so if anything is going to happen in terms of a loan or sale of either player, it will happen in the next few days.

Incoming

Hope Kodzo Avayevu

A signing that is really over a year in the making, North Texas SC officially announced the signing of Hope Kodzo Avayevu on February 2nd. Avayevu was a Bechem United youth team member that made the trip across the Atlantic to participate in the 2019 Dallas Cup. Obviously, Avayevu greatly impressed the staff at FC Dallas. After some trials and tribulations regarding some injuries and the global pandemic, Avayevu has finally officially signed on with the club. A versatile attacker, Avayevu’s contract with North Texas SC is different than the typical NTSC player’s contract, which is normally a 1-year contract with a club option for a second year.

NTSC is a development club that essentially looks at players in a two-year window before deciding to sign them for the first team or move on from them. Avayevu has signed a 3-year contract with two club option years, something much more akin to a first-team homegrown contract, so it is clear that the club values him. Watch out for him as a potential standout performer this season in USL League One, and don’t be shocked if he joins the first team sooner rather than later.

Alejandro Viniegra

On February 3rd, Jose “El Chico” Carmona, a writer for Big D Soccer, highlighted a tweet out of Brazil linking 18-year-old attacker Alejandro Viniegra to FC Dallas and specifically to North Texas SC. The article that referenced this also brought about a bit of controversy as it seemed to announce the establishment of a partnership between FCD and Viniegra’s Brazilian club Cruzeiro. Since that article made the waves across the FC Dallas social media sphere, FC Dallas media VP Gina Miller shot down any notion that a partnership has been formed between the clubs.

Although the partnership between the clubs wasn’t the real deal, the transfer itself was, with North Texas SC officially announcing the signing just a day later on February 4th. Viniegra, a winger who played for Brazil’s U-16 team before switching to Mexico for the U-20’s, is an exciting young talent who, unlike the aforementioned Avayevu, is coming to North Texas on the more standard single year contract with an additional option year. The club will use these two years to evaluate Viniegra and, if things go well, he will make a move either to the first team in the coming years. Along with Avayevu, Vinigra is certainly a player to watch for North Texas SC in 2021.

Carlos de Pena

Moving back into a rumor for the first team, this week saw reports of an offer being made from FCD to Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv for 28-year-old Uruguayan left wing Carlos de Pena. de Pena, who, as the Tweet notes, has one year left on his contract with Dynamo Kyiv, has scored 36 goals over his career with time spent with Nacional in his native Urugay Middlesbrough in England and Real Oviedo in Spain. de Pena also has Champions League experience with Dynamo Kyiv, having scored in this season’s rendition of the competition. Although not a massive name, de Pena seems like a very shrewd signing, a proven talent at a level similar to MLS in the prime of his career.

However, just a day after the news of the offer from FCD came out; the same journalist reported that Dynamo Kyiv had rejected FCD’s offer, noting that they did not meet the asking price for the player. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the chase for de Pena is over, as Dallas can always submit more offers and bring the club to the negotiating table, so keep an eye on things in the coming days and weeks for more news about de Pena.

Are you looking forward to watching Bryan Reynolds play at AS Roma?
How are you feeling about another homegrown leaving before playing for the first team?
Featured Image: @JustinChe6
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