Austin FC is 'getting better and better' but so is everyone else: Takeaways from Rodolfo Borrell's latest press conference
Austin FC sporting director Rodolfo Borrell held court on Tuesday to discuss moves made and moves deferred. He also boasted of record GAM for two international spots artfully dealt.
At Tuesday's press conference, in which Austin FC sporting director Rodolfo Borrell assessed the offseason and the state of the team, he continued to maintain that, despite the challenges listed above, he's managed to improve Austin FC's roster from when he arrived to the present day — with last season's results as evidence of the evolution.
Let's walk through the highlights.
Overcoming obstacles
Though this first quote is long, it's, to me, the essence of how Borrell has accounted for himself and his tenure to date in Austin.
"When I arrived here, I really thought I would be able to bring everything I wanted much quicker in less markets," he said. "The reality, [which] some of my colleagues already told me [about] ... is that to get players over the line in MLS is very difficult, because, again, this is not a league where it's just pocket money, and I bring this player, I get rid of eight players, and I bring eight. There are very strict rules and regulations for everybody.
"So I'm not complaining, and I have to say that I'm very happy to what I've been able to bring during the period that I've been here. I think if you look at the roster from the moment I landed, to the roster right now, the difference is huge. With very little flexibility in the cap, with very much support from ownership in regard to discretionary [spending] and being able to bring the pieces that's completely different than the cap flexibility. I've been here two and a half years, and I feel that, yes, as I mentioned from the very beginning, the squad is getting every time better and better, but at the same time, everyone is getting better and better.
"So I feel that I'm going to need a little bit more to end [up] bringing exactly what I want. Having said that, it's not about philosophy or not. Sometimes you bring players with an idea of what they can do, what they can deliver for what they have done in the past, and suddenly, for whatever reason, they come here, and they don't perform the same, or they don't adapt the same. So, then, this is about reacting and trying to bring the right pieces. But again, it's not easy. It's not as easy as say, you're out and you're in. So you need to respect contracts and to respect rules and regulations of the league, and this unfortunately takes time.
He's aware some of you want a 10
That directly led into acknowledgment — yet dismissal — of signing a No. 10 (a creative attacking midfielder playing centrally) as the panacea for Verde's chance creation concerns. He directed that to the assembled media.
"I think, on the other hand, guys, that you have an obsession, incredible obsession, for the number 10, the number 10, the number 10. There are many, many top teams in the world who haven't got the number 10, okay, but it looks like here, without the number 10, we cannot live. And again, I think the opportunities or the assists can come from different angles. It can come also from a number 10. I'm not saying no to that, that player coming at some point in the future.
Torres: A proven MLS player
Though he confessed that a lot of his available General Allocation Money (GAM) for 2026 has gone into securing Facundo Torres — $2 million is the number he threw out in response to a Spanish-language question — he sees the move as one that will bolster the squad — perhaps sending a veiled message about another one of his designated player ventures in the process.
"What I want to say is that Facundo is an MLS-proven player," Borrell said. "And it is true that this league is a very particular league, very difficult, because it's very different than than many others. And the fact of bringing one player who has already proven himself in this league by by scoring goals and assisting and performing with regularity... it's important, compared to other players that are — not saying they are not good, they might be even better, but suddenly they come to the league and for whatever reason they don't perform the same. So what I mean is that nothing can ensure you anything. But that's true, that the player who has already been proven in MLS gives, at least from the start, more guarantees."
Myrto Uzuni certainly fits the definition of "suddenly comes into the league and for whatever reason doesn't perform the same." Perhaps that changes in 2026, but judging from what Borrell's saying, the proven-in-MLS aspect — which was also a selling point for Brandon Vázquez when he came to Austin from Monterrey after success in Cincinnati – is an important one going forward.
Oh, those agents
As for the Uzuni transfer rumor that surfaced less than two weeks ago, Borrell broadly hinted that agents — who he doesn't always hold in high regard — can drive some of the transfer talk regardless of what clubs are planning to do or are willing to do.
Speaking generally on how players transfer out, Borrell had some choice words.
"It can be the agent reaching out to you because a club has contacted [the player]. So it starts his way. It can be that you are willing to move the player and you have different ways to understand for the people to get, to know that you are willing to move the player, and it might go this way as well. It might go that the club contacts you. I would like to say that this would be the 100% right way to do things, but I think 0.1% do that.
"So usually, when they contact you, they have already reached out to the agent of the player, or the players know something, I guess as well, because you may go direct to the club, the club may have an opinion, but then the player has a completely different opinion. So usually, this is more of a waste of time. And I guess that's why the people reach out first to the agent and say, 'What's the situation? Do you think it will be possible, a move, if he's under contract? For how much you think they will be asking for?' And it usually starts this way."
He then embarked on a hypothetical of calling up Erling Haaland and offering him a higher salary to play with Austin FC, which sounds great, until you factor in what's required between the clubs.
"Sometimes clubs and agents, especially, are selfish, and they try to put in the head of the players, like they are offering them double salary, which is fine, but they obviously have to pay a transfer fee ... you're not deciding the price. We're deciding the price ... So there has to be a balance where somebody wanted to pay on a team, between that, we have to be happy as a club and he obviously will be happy salary wise, but we have to have a certain amount ... because if I let go a player for less money than his value, and I cannot bring at least a similar player, you're all gonna kill me ... So I have to guarantee that if we let go a player, we let him go for an amount that at least we can replace that player."
In Uzuni's case, where he and the club had reportedly come to terms over player salary, the clubs would also obviously have to agree to a transfer fee to make the deal complete.
Getting GAM 'for a record number'
Two recent moves that may have flown under the radar for all but the hardcore salary nerds (which likely includes a lot of you): A trade of a 2026 international roster slot to Real Salt Lake for $235,000 in GAM, and a similar trade to LA Galaxy for $240,000 — both for half a season, so the slots revert back to Austin on July 13 in time for any summer transfers requiring international slots.
Borrell explained the moves, which inject $475,000 into Verde's GAM coffers at a time in which that's needed.
"We have a situation where we cannot do anything else in this market, in this transfer window, and because of the GAM situation — it's not because we don't want, so because of the GAM situation, and it was just about to set ourselves in the best position possible in order to be able to bring in somebody in the summer.
"So in order to have more GAM, one of the things was, if we were not going to use these international roster spots now, why not transfer them for a record number, the two of them, by the way, the two, until the summer. So the two until the summer ... they're going to bring us $475,000 [in] GAM. So this means that if we were having half a million, this is duplicating the amount of GAM that we were having. So at the numbers that we are at, we thought this was the right move to do, so if at this moment in time, we were not able to bring them, to give them better use, this was the right move try to get the most GAM possible in order to be able to bring something in the summer."
It's still possible that one international slot will revert back to Austin FC, depending on the league's ruling on whether Canadian players occupy domestic or international spots for U.S.-based teams. Right now, it's the latter, but murmurings around the league have players like Jayden Nelson becoming domestic. Getting a ruling on this before roster compliance is due on Friday would be helpful in, say, knowing whether there's an international spot available for Jorge Alastuey to be able to get short-term call-ups from Austin FC II or even sign a supplemental spot (which usually happens once the club exhausts its four short-term call-ups).
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.
Austin FC showed some flashes of the team they might be in 2026. But according to their head coach and veteran goalkeeper, there's more work to do before Saturday's opening match.
In this installment of our MLS season previews for 2026, we go to D.C., Ft. Lauderdale. Montréal, Nashville, and Foxborough (though it could be Everett soon).
Confining roster rules. Conniving agents. Limited flexibility. Barren GAM coffers.
At Tuesday's press conference, in which Austin FC sporting director Rodolfo Borrell assessed the offseason and the state of the team, he continued to maintain that, despite the challenges listed above, he's managed to improve Austin FC's roster from when he arrived to the present day — with last season's results as evidence of the evolution.
Let's walk through the highlights.
Overcoming obstacles
Though this first quote is long, it's, to me, the essence of how Borrell has accounted for himself and his tenure to date in Austin.
"When I arrived here, I really thought I would be able to bring everything I wanted much quicker in less markets," he said. "The reality, [which] some of my colleagues already told me [about] ... is that to get players over the line in MLS is very difficult, because, again, this is not a league where it's just pocket money, and I bring this player, I get rid of eight players, and I bring eight. There are very strict rules and regulations for everybody.
"So I'm not complaining, and I have to say that I'm very happy to what I've been able to bring during the period that I've been here. I think if you look at the roster from the moment I landed, to the roster right now, the difference is huge. With very little flexibility in the cap, with very much support from ownership in regard to discretionary [spending] and being able to bring the pieces that's completely different than the cap flexibility. I've been here two and a half years, and I feel that, yes, as I mentioned from the very beginning, the squad is getting every time better and better, but at the same time, everyone is getting better and better.
"So I feel that I'm going to need a little bit more to end [up] bringing exactly what I want. Having said that, it's not about philosophy or not. Sometimes you bring players with an idea of what they can do, what they can deliver for what they have done in the past, and suddenly, for whatever reason, they come here, and they don't perform the same, or they don't adapt the same. So, then, this is about reacting and trying to bring the right pieces. But again, it's not easy. It's not as easy as say, you're out and you're in. So you need to respect contracts and to respect rules and regulations of the league, and this unfortunately takes time.
He's aware some of you want a 10
That directly led into acknowledgment — yet dismissal — of signing a No. 10 (a creative attacking midfielder playing centrally) as the panacea for Verde's chance creation concerns. He directed that to the assembled media.
"I think, on the other hand, guys, that you have an obsession, incredible obsession, for the number 10, the number 10, the number 10. There are many, many top teams in the world who haven't got the number 10, okay, but it looks like here, without the number 10, we cannot live. And again, I think the opportunities or the assists can come from different angles. It can come also from a number 10. I'm not saying no to that, that player coming at some point in the future.
Torres: A proven MLS player
Though he confessed that a lot of his available General Allocation Money (GAM) for 2026 has gone into securing Facundo Torres — $2 million is the number he threw out in response to a Spanish-language question — he sees the move as one that will bolster the squad — perhaps sending a veiled message about another one of his designated player ventures in the process.
"What I want to say is that Facundo is an MLS-proven player," Borrell said. "And it is true that this league is a very particular league, very difficult, because it's very different than than many others. And the fact of bringing one player who has already proven himself in this league by by scoring goals and assisting and performing with regularity... it's important, compared to other players that are — not saying they are not good, they might be even better, but suddenly they come to the league and for whatever reason they don't perform the same. So what I mean is that nothing can ensure you anything. But that's true, that the player who has already been proven in MLS gives, at least from the start, more guarantees."
Myrto Uzuni certainly fits the definition of "suddenly comes into the league and for whatever reason doesn't perform the same." Perhaps that changes in 2026, but judging from what Borrell's saying, the proven-in-MLS aspect — which was also a selling point for Brandon Vázquez when he came to Austin from Monterrey after success in Cincinnati – is an important one going forward.
Oh, those agents
As for the Uzuni transfer rumor that surfaced less than two weeks ago, Borrell broadly hinted that agents — who he doesn't always hold in high regard — can drive some of the transfer talk regardless of what clubs are planning to do or are willing to do.
Speaking generally on how players transfer out, Borrell had some choice words.
"It can be the agent reaching out to you because a club has contacted [the player]. So it starts his way. It can be that you are willing to move the player and you have different ways to understand for the people to get, to know that you are willing to move the player, and it might go this way as well. It might go that the club contacts you. I would like to say that this would be the 100% right way to do things, but I think 0.1% do that.
"So usually, when they contact you, they have already reached out to the agent of the player, or the players know something, I guess as well, because you may go direct to the club, the club may have an opinion, but then the player has a completely different opinion. So usually, this is more of a waste of time. And I guess that's why the people reach out first to the agent and say, 'What's the situation? Do you think it will be possible, a move, if he's under contract? For how much you think they will be asking for?' And it usually starts this way."
He then embarked on a hypothetical of calling up Erling Haaland and offering him a higher salary to play with Austin FC, which sounds great, until you factor in what's required between the clubs.
"Sometimes clubs and agents, especially, are selfish, and they try to put in the head of the players, like they are offering them double salary, which is fine, but they obviously have to pay a transfer fee ... you're not deciding the price. We're deciding the price ... So there has to be a balance where somebody wanted to pay on a team, between that, we have to be happy as a club and he obviously will be happy salary wise, but we have to have a certain amount ... because if I let go a player for less money than his value, and I cannot bring at least a similar player, you're all gonna kill me ... So I have to guarantee that if we let go a player, we let him go for an amount that at least we can replace that player."
In Uzuni's case, where he and the club had reportedly come to terms over player salary, the clubs would also obviously have to agree to a transfer fee to make the deal complete.
Getting GAM 'for a record number'
Two recent moves that may have flown under the radar for all but the hardcore salary nerds (which likely includes a lot of you): A trade of a 2026 international roster slot to Real Salt Lake for $235,000 in GAM, and a similar trade to LA Galaxy for $240,000 — both for half a season, so the slots revert back to Austin on July 13 in time for any summer transfers requiring international slots.
Borrell explained the moves, which inject $475,000 into Verde's GAM coffers at a time in which that's needed.
"We have a situation where we cannot do anything else in this market, in this transfer window, and because of the GAM situation — it's not because we don't want, so because of the GAM situation, and it was just about to set ourselves in the best position possible in order to be able to bring in somebody in the summer.
"So in order to have more GAM, one of the things was, if we were not going to use these international roster spots now, why not transfer them for a record number, the two of them, by the way, the two, until the summer. So the two until the summer ... they're going to bring us $475,000 [in] GAM. So this means that if we were having half a million, this is duplicating the amount of GAM that we were having. So at the numbers that we are at, we thought this was the right move to do, so if at this moment in time, we were not able to bring them, to give them better use, this was the right move try to get the most GAM possible in order to be able to bring something in the summer."
It's still possible that one international slot will revert back to Austin FC, depending on the league's ruling on whether Canadian players occupy domestic or international spots for U.S.-based teams. Right now, it's the latter, but murmurings around the league have players like Jayden Nelson becoming domestic. Getting a ruling on this before roster compliance is due on Friday would be helpful in, say, knowing whether there's an international spot available for Jorge Alastuey to be able to get short-term call-ups from Austin FC II or even sign a supplemental spot (which usually happens once the club exhausts its four short-term call-ups).
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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