A schedule and a signing and some speculation: Making sense of Friday's double Austin FC news drop (and San Diego FC news drop)
We know Austin FC's six opponents for the preseason now ... and you can see one of those live in Austin. Also, Dani Pereira will continue to be Verde through most of his twenties.
After a relatively quiet few days in Austin FC's offseason, we got news that the preseason is officially upon us.
Players will report to St. David's Performance Center on Saturday ahead of Monday's first practice of 2026, in advance of a six-match schedule released Friday afternoon.
Austin FC will play the following matches in Austin:
Saturday, Jan. 24, vs. San Antonio FC
Wednesday, Jan. 28, vs. Louisville City FC
Sunday, Feb. 1, vs. New York City FC
If you're a season ticket holder, and you haven't looked at your SeatGeek account today, you should see complimentary tickets for the NYCFC match, kicking off at 2 pm at Q2 Stadium. Save for matches at the Coachella Valley Invitational in Indio, Calif., this is the first time in Austin FC's history it's played a preseason match in front of fans since the sellout match against Atlas in 2022.
Officially, that is.
Of course, plenty of Austin FC fans have trekked out to the training center next to Parmer Field to watch preseason games on Verde Hill and New Improved Verde Hill, which was a lot closer to the action than the original Verde Hill, making me wonder why it took fans three years, collectively, to figure that out.
Then, following the Q2 match, the team will head to Palm Springs for three matches at the 2026 edition of Coachella, which could be one of the last ones, considering that the schedule will shift to a summer-to-spring calendar in 2027, and no one wants to do a preseason tournament in the Coachella Valley in June.
Check out this chart:
See, much more appealing in February.
Verde will play:
Saturday, Feb. 7, vs. St. Louis City SC
Wednesday, Feb. 11, vs. Chicago Fire FC
Saturday, Feb. 14, vs. Sporting Kansas City
Playing SKC on Valentine's Day reminds me of an earlier contender for Soccer Bluesky Post of the Year, courtesy of the Black Hart of Saint Paul's Wes Burdine.
As i ALWAYS say: if you aren’t going to hire a good manager, at least hire a hottie.
Then, Verde gets a week before welcoming Minnesota United FC (speaking of Wes and the Black Hart) to Q2. Given that Robin Lod has left for Chicago and Dayne St. Clair has left for Miami, it's not quite the same Loons team that Austin bested in the U.S. Open Cup semis last season.
Pereira is staying
Friday morning, the club announced that Dani Pereira is staying Verde, signing a deal keeping him through the 2027-28 season with an option year in 2028-29. That means that Pereira, now 25, could be on this current contract until just before he turns 29.
He's also one of the original Austin FC players, drafted No. 1 in the team's inaugural SuperDraft in December 2020, and appearing in 156 matches across all competitions in his five years in Verde. He's also made eight appearances for the Venezuela national team.
Owen Wolff's recent deal could be precluding a move overseas, and with Pereira seen as an MLS-to-Europe candidate in recent years, there's still a chance of that with the new deal — but this feels more like an MLS Lifer variety of contract, given that it spans 2 1/2 seasons plus an option year and takes him into his prime playing years.
He's evolved his game and matured over the past season, and while questions remain as to where he's best suited — he saw himself as a 6 (defensive midfielder) when head coach Josh Wolff seemed intent on having him be that early in his career, but he's now appearing to round into a jack-of-all-trades 8, making his jersey number switch from 6 to 8 last season – when famed No. 6 wearer Ilie Sánchez came to Austin – apropos.
Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Though Austin made some news with the Pereira signing, that's not the biggest MLS news of the day. While we wait for Hector Herrera's return to the Houston Dynamo to go from Bogert-official to fully official, we have this from San Diego.
🇲🇽 BREAKING: San Diego FC sporting director Tyler Heaps says club-record signing Chucky Lozano is not in the clubs plans for 2026.
Heaps told media today that decision is sporting + playing time.
Lozano one of highest paid players in MLS.
Hirving "Chucky" Lozano is, let's just say, a spendy designated player — $6 million base salary and more than $7.6 million in guaranteed compensation last season — and he flamed out rather spectacularly with reported locker room conflicts while his team was wrapping up the top seed in the West and getting to the Western Conference Finals mostly without him.
He did end up with nine goals and 10 assists over 1833 minutes in 2025, though, which is a goal contribution every 96 minutes.
With this announcement from Heaps, San Diego's bargaining position might be less than it was without letting everyone know. Maybe Lozano just needs a change of scenery, and maybe there's a trade possible for another DP (and a more affordable one) who also might not mind a change in scenery).
Just dropping this here:
Don't show the San Diego front office this chart, but keep it in mind if you would like to see a potential upgrade at left wing.
And, you know, Verde will be "in the neighborhood" in a few weeks.
Just putting it out into the world. This likely will not happen ... but it could.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts.
Having Owen Wolff on a U22 deal is the best roster-building way to have him on a senior roster spot. But, for the time being, Austin FC has no senior roster spots remaining.
Owen Wolff is reportedly renewing his commitment to Austin FC with an arrangement rewarding both player and club. Here's what it means for the remaining weeks leading up to the season opener.
After a relatively quiet few days in Austin FC's offseason, we got news that the preseason is officially upon us.
Players will report to St. David's Performance Center on Saturday ahead of Monday's first practice of 2026, in advance of a six-match schedule released Friday afternoon.
Austin FC will play the following matches in Austin:
If you're a season ticket holder, and you haven't looked at your SeatGeek account today, you should see complimentary tickets for the NYCFC match, kicking off at 2 pm at Q2 Stadium. Save for matches at the Coachella Valley Invitational in Indio, Calif., this is the first time in Austin FC's history it's played a preseason match in front of fans since the sellout match against Atlas in 2022.
Officially, that is.
Of course, plenty of Austin FC fans have trekked out to the training center next to Parmer Field to watch preseason games on Verde Hill and New Improved Verde Hill, which was a lot closer to the action than the original Verde Hill, making me wonder why it took fans three years, collectively, to figure that out.
Then, following the Q2 match, the team will head to Palm Springs for three matches at the 2026 edition of Coachella, which could be one of the last ones, considering that the schedule will shift to a summer-to-spring calendar in 2027, and no one wants to do a preseason tournament in the Coachella Valley in June.
Check out this chart:
See, much more appealing in February.
Verde will play:
Playing SKC on Valentine's Day reminds me of an earlier contender for Soccer Bluesky Post of the Year, courtesy of the Black Hart of Saint Paul's Wes Burdine.
Then, Verde gets a week before welcoming Minnesota United FC (speaking of Wes and the Black Hart) to Q2. Given that Robin Lod has left for Chicago and Dayne St. Clair has left for Miami, it's not quite the same Loons team that Austin bested in the U.S. Open Cup semis last season.
Pereira is staying
Friday morning, the club announced that Dani Pereira is staying Verde, signing a deal keeping him through the 2027-28 season with an option year in 2028-29. That means that Pereira, now 25, could be on this current contract until just before he turns 29.
He's also one of the original Austin FC players, drafted No. 1 in the team's inaugural SuperDraft in December 2020, and appearing in 156 matches across all competitions in his five years in Verde. He's also made eight appearances for the Venezuela national team.
Owen Wolff's recent deal could be precluding a move overseas, and with Pereira seen as an MLS-to-Europe candidate in recent years, there's still a chance of that with the new deal — but this feels more like an MLS Lifer variety of contract, given that it spans 2 1/2 seasons plus an option year and takes him into his prime playing years.
He's evolved his game and matured over the past season, and while questions remain as to where he's best suited — he saw himself as a 6 (defensive midfielder) when head coach Josh Wolff seemed intent on having him be that early in his career, but he's now appearing to round into a jack-of-all-trades 8, making his jersey number switch from 6 to 8 last season – when famed No. 6 wearer Ilie Sánchez came to Austin – apropos.
Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Though Austin made some news with the Pereira signing, that's not the biggest MLS news of the day. While we wait for Hector Herrera's return to the Houston Dynamo to go from Bogert-official to fully official, we have this from San Diego.
Hirving "Chucky" Lozano is, let's just say, a spendy designated player — $6 million base salary and more than $7.6 million in guaranteed compensation last season — and he flamed out rather spectacularly with reported locker room conflicts while his team was wrapping up the top seed in the West and getting to the Western Conference Finals mostly without him.
He did end up with nine goals and 10 assists over 1833 minutes in 2025, though, which is a goal contribution every 96 minutes.
With this announcement from Heaps, San Diego's bargaining position might be less than it was without letting everyone know. Maybe Lozano just needs a change of scenery, and maybe there's a trade possible for another DP (and a more affordable one) who also might not mind a change in scenery).
Just dropping this here:
Don't show the San Diego front office this chart, but keep it in mind if you would like to see a potential upgrade at left wing.
And, you know, Verde will be "in the neighborhood" in a few weeks.
Just putting it out into the world. This likely will not happen ... but it could.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts.
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