Who Will Be the Next FC Dallas Homegrown Signing?

FC Dallas has signed 30 players from their academy and academy affiliates into the first team and is one of the league’s leaders in signing players to homegrown contracts.

So far, the club has not made a homegrown signing yet (not counting Justin Che, who was signed in October of 2020).

Looking at the current roster, it would be tough for the club to sign a homegrown with its last couple roster spots.

Nevertheless, here are a couple of players that might be signed in 2021.

Mark Salas

The first one is easy because it fits a need. Mark Salas was drafted by FC Dallas from UNC in the 2021 SuperDraft but is actually eligible to be signed to a homegrown contract due to his youth career in the FC Dallas academy. He played in the FC Dallas system from the age of 6 and has been part of rosters coached by Luchi Gonzalez.

Currently, the roster is a bit thin at center-back. Although not announced, Justin Che has been loaned to Bayern Munich for the first half of the year, and it is assumed that Nkosi Burgess will be playing more with North Texas SC. With both Che and Burgess unavailable, FC Dallas only has three other center-backs rostered. FC Dallas needs roster flexibility, and Mark Salas provides just that. The kid has played all across the backline during his academy and collegiate career. Furthermore, there are questions for the right-back position, which Salas can also play.

If he were signed this year, it would be the first time FC Dallas signed a player from the 3rd or 4th round of the drafts since 2016, when FC Dallas drafted Colin Bonner. However, with the lack of depth across the backline, he would be a useful piece to use during the season.

Matthew Corcoran

Corcoran will probably be the next homegrown player that is drafted purely for investment. The last couple notable signings that fell into this category were Paxton Pomykal, Bryan Reynolds, Jesus Ferreira, and Chris Richards.

Corcoran is a holding mid that currently plays a year up with the U17s. He’s about to turn 15 this month and has already trained with North Texas last season. Corcoran is considered one the best in his age group in the entire nation. He is a kid with a pro career at the top European clubs, so it makes sense for FC Dallas to stash him to get money for him in the future.

In all likelihood, we will never see the kid play, and many FC Dallas fans that expressed their disdain for how the club signed and then quickly sold a player like Chris Richards will probably not be happy. However, this creates a brand for the club. This season, we’ve already seen that FC Dallas’ brand as a selling club is bringing a ton of young players to North Texas. Signing players like him will sometimes give you no results on the field, but in some cases, you get club favorites that stay for a good amount of time, like Paxton and Jesus.

No matter your opinion on it, Corcoran will probably be signed sometime this year.

Collin Smith

Out of all of the choices on the list, Collin is the least likely to be signed in the next year. However, he has made a case to be offered a contract.

The young winger became a rotation player for North Texas SC last season, alongside academy player Beni Redzic. However, the reason Collin is on the list and Redzic is not is because of age. Redzic has been with the U19s for 3 years and has not been mentioned by any person inside the club to be on the shortlist for a homegrown contract. This may have changed after his games with NTSC, but it seems unlikely.

Collin is a raw player, much like Bryan Reynolds was, who also started as a winger. Without a finished product at this age, it seems unlikely that Collin’s future position is a winger. He still has a season or two with the academy, so maybe he gains the talents needed to become a professional winger.

However, no matter what his future position is, the club could use some depth. As was mentioned before, the club does not have a locked-in right back. However, even at the winger position, the club is quite thin. New signing Jader Obrian and Dante Sealy are the only right-wingers on the roster, and it seems unlikely that Sealy stays at the club for much longer. On the left side, neither Vargas nor ElMedkhar have the winger position secured, and Paxton’s ability to stay healthy does leave some concerns. A homegrown winger signing is not completely out of the window.