Dani Pereira traded for GAM: Initial thoughts on what it means
Dani Pereira, one of the original 2021 Austin FC players, has been traded to CF Montréal. It's bringing a hefty amount of GAM ... but at what cost to the midfield?
It turns out the rumors of Dani Pereira going to CF Montréal were true after all.
On Thursday, the club announced that Pereira — one of the remaining players from the 2021 inaugural season, selected in the prior offseason's MLS SuperDraft as its No. 1 pick — moved to the Canadian club for $2.1 million in guaranteed General Allocation Money (GAM) and a possible additional $250,000 in conditional GAM.
Conventional wisdom heading into the season held that only one of two Austin FC players — Pereira and Owen Wolff — could fetch the amount of GAM that would help then-sporting director Rodolfo Borrell meaningfully transform the roster.
But conventional wisdom also held that the player leaving from GAM would go to a European destination, rather than an interleague trade commanding one of the largest GAM-for-player swaps in league history. (Leo Campana's 2024 trade from Inter Miami CF to the New England Revolution was for a reported $2.5 million in guaranteed GAM, possibly upped to $3.25 million.)
What Dani Pereira said (per the press release)
I want to say thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey here in Austin in the last six years: all the teammates that I’ve shared the locker room with, the coaching staffs, everyone in the front office, and the owners. Everyone helped make me who I am today. Austin FC as a whole changed the life of a kid from Caracas, and I will always be grateful for it.
“I want to share a special thank you to the fans for their unconditional love toward me and my family. You guys welcomed us to Austin with open arms since the first moment I got drafted. You all are the best in the league and please don’t ever change that. Thank you, and I’m going to miss the 512.
What interim head coach Davy Arnaud said (per the press release)
Dani has meant a great deal to this club since joining as its first-ever draft pick. He represented Austin with pride and established a genuine connection with the community here. We’re proud of his development over the last six years and we wish Dani nothing but success in this next phase of his career.”
This type of decision is always difficult for both the club and the player. While emotionally we are sad to see him go, coming into the season, we knew we would only let go of a player of Dani’s caliber if doing so positioned the club for even greater long-term success. I, and our ownership team, felt that this move met that threshold and we executed a plan that was established at the start of the season.
What it means for Pereira
The 25-year-old Venezuelan international is moving from one bad team to another, one might say dismissively, as CFM is currently 11th in the Eastern Conference and is on its second head coach of the season, interim caretaker Philippe Eullaffroy.
But this also cements Pereira's status as an MLS lifer, and with an opportunity to build upon the six goal and 23 assist tally he compiled in 165 Verde appearances, he could parlay several good years in Québec into a bigger contract elsewhere in the league.
What it means for Austin FC
If yesterday's announced signing of Przemysław Płacheta is the last roster move of the Rodolfo Borrell era, and we should regard that as being the case, this is the first roster move of the Jim Curtin era — with Arnaud at least the face of front office moves while the club transitions to whoever the new sporting director might be.
It also shows that the club isn't afraid to make moves while in between an official head of the technical side of it. To speculate for a moment, it seems far more likely that the CFM front office saw opportunity in the transition and approached the Verde front office about its receptiveness to the move — or perhaps this has been in the works since before Borrell left and Arnaud was there to finalize a deal that Borrell somehow initiated.
But certainly Curtin has to have been consulted prior to Verde agreeing to the move, giving an indication of either what he doesn't want in the midfield going forward — or if you subscribe to the view that there's far too much overlap between Wolff's skill set and Pereira's skill set, what he doesn't want too much of in the midfield going forward.
What it means for Austin FC fans
Clearly, the Verde faithful lose a player who they've seen literally grow up with the club over five-and-a-half seasons. Though occasionally sidelined with injuries, Pereira's been reliable enough to be a regular starter, an able contributor, and refreshingly candid in his dealings with media.
He also was stepping up in community involvement, launching his A 2 Toques Foundation last year, with a mission of "support[ing] underserved communities by helping students and their families navigate the educational system, providing one-on-one college readiness mentoring, and connecting them with academic, athletic, and professional opportunities that help them pursue higher education." (He was also a presence in various Austin FC-adjacent ad campaigns, including the banner ads for this site from Austin Telco Federal Credit Union.)
And, with increased time on the Venezuelan national team, fans have had an additional team to keep an eye on during World Cup qualifying and tournaments. (And still theoretically could, in the way that they're rooting for Sebastian Berhalter with the U.S. now.)
We'll miss you, Dani.
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.
Spain and Portugal will attempt to qualify for what would be an epic Round of 16 match, while Algeria looks to ward off Wednesday's trend of African teams narrowly losing to European teams.
Can the U.S. join fellow World Cup co-hosts Canada and Mexico into the Round of 16. Also, the players will know their Round of 16 opponent heading into the match in Santa Clara.
As expected based on past rumors, Przemysław Płacheta is the newest signing for Austin FC. He inked his contract, which officially starts on July 1, back in March.
Will Scandinavia have a representative in the tournament after Tuesday, or will France and Ivory Coast move on? And how will co-hosts Mexico fare against Ecuador in the nightcap?
It turns out the rumors of Dani Pereira going to CF Montréal were true after all.
On Thursday, the club announced that Pereira — one of the remaining players from the 2021 inaugural season, selected in the prior offseason's MLS SuperDraft as its No. 1 pick — moved to the Canadian club for $2.1 million in guaranteed General Allocation Money (GAM) and a possible additional $250,000 in conditional GAM.
Conventional wisdom heading into the season held that only one of two Austin FC players — Pereira and Owen Wolff — could fetch the amount of GAM that would help then-sporting director Rodolfo Borrell meaningfully transform the roster.
But conventional wisdom also held that the player leaving from GAM would go to a European destination, rather than an interleague trade commanding one of the largest GAM-for-player swaps in league history. (Leo Campana's 2024 trade from Inter Miami CF to the New England Revolution was for a reported $2.5 million in guaranteed GAM, possibly upped to $3.25 million.)
What Dani Pereira said (per the press release)
I want to say thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey here in Austin in the last six years: all the teammates that I’ve shared the locker room with, the coaching staffs, everyone in the front office, and the owners. Everyone helped make me who I am today. Austin FC as a whole changed the life of a kid from Caracas, and I will always be grateful for it.
“I want to share a special thank you to the fans for their unconditional love toward me and my family. You guys welcomed us to Austin with open arms since the first moment I got drafted. You all are the best in the league and please don’t ever change that. Thank you, and I’m going to miss the 512.
What interim head coach Davy Arnaud said (per the press release)
Dani has meant a great deal to this club since joining as its first-ever draft pick. He represented Austin with pride and established a genuine connection with the community here. We’re proud of his development over the last six years and we wish Dani nothing but success in this next phase of his career.”
This type of decision is always difficult for both the club and the player. While emotionally we are sad to see him go, coming into the season, we knew we would only let go of a player of Dani’s caliber if doing so positioned the club for even greater long-term success. I, and our ownership team, felt that this move met that threshold and we executed a plan that was established at the start of the season.
What it means for Pereira
The 25-year-old Venezuelan international is moving from one bad team to another, one might say dismissively, as CFM is currently 11th in the Eastern Conference and is on its second head coach of the season, interim caretaker Philippe Eullaffroy.
But this also cements Pereira's status as an MLS lifer, and with an opportunity to build upon the six goal and 23 assist tally he compiled in 165 Verde appearances, he could parlay several good years in Québec into a bigger contract elsewhere in the league.
What it means for Austin FC
If yesterday's announced signing of Przemysław Płacheta is the last roster move of the Rodolfo Borrell era, and we should regard that as being the case, this is the first roster move of the Jim Curtin era — with Arnaud at least the face of front office moves while the club transitions to whoever the new sporting director might be.
It also shows that the club isn't afraid to make moves while in between an official head of the technical side of it. To speculate for a moment, it seems far more likely that the CFM front office saw opportunity in the transition and approached the Verde front office about its receptiveness to the move — or perhaps this has been in the works since before Borrell left and Arnaud was there to finalize a deal that Borrell somehow initiated.
But certainly Curtin has to have been consulted prior to Verde agreeing to the move, giving an indication of either what he doesn't want in the midfield going forward — or if you subscribe to the view that there's far too much overlap between Wolff's skill set and Pereira's skill set, what he doesn't want too much of in the midfield going forward.
What it means for Austin FC fans
Clearly, the Verde faithful lose a player who they've seen literally grow up with the club over five-and-a-half seasons. Though occasionally sidelined with injuries, Pereira's been reliable enough to be a regular starter, an able contributor, and refreshingly candid in his dealings with media.
He also was stepping up in community involvement, launching his A 2 Toques Foundation last year, with a mission of "support[ing] underserved communities by helping students and their families navigate the educational system, providing one-on-one college readiness mentoring, and connecting them with academic, athletic, and professional opportunities that help them pursue higher education." (He was also a presence in various Austin FC-adjacent ad campaigns, including the banner ads for this site from Austin Telco Federal Credit Union.)
And, with increased time on the Venezuelan national team, fans have had an additional team to keep an eye on during World Cup qualifying and tournaments. (And still theoretically could, in the way that they're rooting for Sebastian Berhalter with the U.S. now.)
We'll miss you, Dani.
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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