Friday not only brought Austin FC the long-anticipated annual inadvertent kit leak, thanks to KUTX posting a photo of Annabelle Chairlegs performing in the station's live studio, but it also brought a particularly tasty rumor involving a new designated player from a well-respected source.
🇺🇾🟢 BREAKING: Austin FC is nearing a deal to sign Uruguay international winger Facundo Torres from Palmeiras, per sources. Deal around $9.5m. Not done yet but close. Would be big signing. Torres, 25, had 10g/6a in 3,336 mins for Palmeiras this season. www.nytimes.com/athletic/697...
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert.bsky.social) 2026-01-16T20:41:31.296Z
Torres previously featured in Major League Soccer with Orlando City, coming over as a young designated player in 2022 and staying through December 2024, when the club moved him on a big-money deal to Brazilian side Palmeiras.
At the time, Orlando City noted,
Torres, 24, made 113 starts in 123 appearances for the Lions across all competitions, scoring 47 total goals and providing 25 assists. The Las Piedras, Uruguay, native set the Club records for most goals scored all-time for Orlando City (47) and most goals scored in a single season (20), passing former Lion Cyle Larin’s previous marks for both. The Uruguayan winger is also the Club’s all-time leader in goal contributions, with 72 total.
And The Mane Land, which covers Orlando City as an independent site after growing on SB Nation before the great Local Site Purge of 2023 reverted them back to indie status, had this to say upon his move:
His impact on the club has been a big one, as he not only has been an offensive leader in his three seasons in Orlando, but helped the Lions win their first trophy in the club’s MLS era in the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship run. His contributions helped Orlando City reach the playoffs each of the last three years, including a run to [2024]’s Eastern Conference final and a second-place finish in the 2023 Supporters’ Shield standings.
He's a winger that can both score and assist in MLS, and judging from what he's done over the last year, in relation to players in MLS and comparable leagues and competitions, he brings appreciable qualities.
Before we get to detractors — and there's at least one notable one — let's break out the charts.
