Orlando City have signed longtime MLS attacking midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro on a free transfer from Seattle Sounders for the 2024 season with an additional option for 2025.
Lodeiro joins Orlando City after eight successful seasons with Seattle, where he played his part in the team’s two MLS Cup wins in 2016 and 2019 as well as their 2022 Concacaf Champions Cup (formerly Champions League) triumph.
The 34-year-old departed Lumen Field as a free agent , with his contract expiring at the end of the calendar year with the Western Conference side.
“We are thrilled to have Nico join us here in Orlando. He is a player we are very familiar with and feel fits perfectly within the style of soccer we want to play,” Luiz Muzzi, Orlando’s EVP of soccer operations and general manager, said in a release.
“He is a proven winner in this league, lifting the MLS Cup twice and winning the Concacaf Champions League, so he knows what it takes.”
Lodeiro joined Seattle July 2016 from South American giants Boca Juniors, and he went on to become one of the best players MLS has ever seen. To go along with his two MLS Cup and Concacaf Champions Cup, Lodeiro registered 58 goals and 95 assists (most in Seattle history) in 231 appearances as a Sounder in all competitions.
Lodeiro will be expected to replace Mauricio Pereyra, who departed Orlando following their MLS Cup playoffs exit to Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference semifinals after five years with the club. Like Lodeiro, Pereyra also played as a No. 10, dishing out assists while contributing goals here and there.
The Lions captured their first-ever trophy in 2022 with the US Open Cup, and they’ll be hoping for more success in 2024 with Lodeiro, Robin Jansson, Facundo Torres and newly re-signed head coach Oscar Pareja leading the charge.
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