By IVES GALARCEP
FC Dallas boast Major League Soccer’s best track record of signing Homegrown Players, and this year has been no different, with the team tapping into its academy pipeline on multiple occasions since the end of the 2012 season.
You can now add U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team midfielder Danny Garcia to that list. Sources have confirmed to SBI that Garcia has signed a Homegrown Player contract with FC Dallas, making him the 11th Homegrown Player signed by FC Dallas since the league established the Homegrown Player rule (by far the most in the league). An announcement on the signing is expected this week.
A standout playmaker at the University of North Carolina, Garcia leaves the Tar Heels after just one season in a move precipitated by his successful run with the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team. A member of the U.S. team preparing to compete in the Under-20 World Cup, Garcia had begun to draw interest from foreign clubs, which sources tell SBI led to FC Dallas moving to seal a deal for Garcia before the Under-20 World Cup began.
A skilled but undersized midfielder, Garcia boasts the technical quality to develop into a standout, but he still needs some seasoning from a physical standpoint and appears to be a good candidate for a loan move once he returns from the Under-20 World Cup.
Garcia joins London Woodberry, Bradlee Baladez and Jesse Gonzalez as FC Dallas academy players who have signed since the end of the 2012 season. Garcia is also joined on the Under-20 World Cup team by new FC Dallas teammate Kellyn Acosta, who signed a Homegrown Player deal with FCD last summer.
What do you think of the signing? Think FC Dallas was smart to snatch up Garcia before the Under-20 World Cup? Think Garcia should have stayed at North Carolina for another season?
Share your thoughts below.