The announcement that many Austin FC fans anticipated finally came Friday: Dani Pereira was signed to an extension superseding his existing contract. However, it’s not the length of contract that says he’ll definitively stay in MLS for his career. It’s not a contract, conversely, that indicates that he’s following his earlier-voiced aspirations of playing in Europe.
Let’s call it a Sliding Doors contract. Like the 1998 Gwyneth Paltrow vehicle of that name, Pereira’s now in the “will he catch the subway to Europe?” or “will he miss it and stand on the MLS Lifer platform?” stage of his career, agreeing to a one-year contract for 2025 with an option year in 2026 (which, in MLS, is always a club option unless there’s some sort of autotrigger in it, which we should dub a Rigoni).
That essentially kicks the Commit to Dani can a year down the road.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. If Pereira and the club decide next offseason to do a long-term deal, that can still be done. If there is indeed a European suitor for Pereira, either this winter or next summer, that can be negotiated without the urgency of a contract expiring at the end of the 2025 season.
And though we won’t officially know until the first MLSPA Christmas in the spring, he’s likely now on a salary that’s more reflective of his value, after being on a SuperDraft contract (albeit for a Generation Adidas, No. 1 SuperDraft pick).
