If you’ve been reading or listening to 3rd Degree over the last year you will have heard me talk about Coach Nico Estevez’s stated desire to have a shorter FC Dallas roster. Something like 25 to 26 players rather than 30.
With the end of the primary MLS transfer window, it seems a good time to check on where Dallas ended up for 2023.
Right now the club has a 24-man first-team roster. Allow me to show you.
You will also recall, I hope, the roster-building model I’ve been using for a few years now. I listed revised it at the end of spring camp. It’s basically a two-deep with an extra striker, center back, and goalie.
So here it is again, showing the current roster state of just 24 first-team players.
The FC Dallas First Team Roster
| Position | Player | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Jesus Ferreira |
| 2 | 9 | Jesus Jiminez |
| 3 | 9 | Jose Mulato |
| 4 | Wing | Paul Arriola |
| 5 | Wing | Alan Velasco |
| 6 | Wing | Jader Obrian |
| 7 | Wing | Bernard Kamungo |
| 8 | Free-8 | Sebastian Lletget |
| 9 | Free-8 | Empty |
| 10 | Linking-8 | Paxton Pomykal |
| 11 | Linking-8 | Tsiki Ntsabeleng |
| 12 | 6 | Edwin Cerrillo |
| 13 | 6 | Facundo Quignón |
| 14 | LB | Marco Farfan |
| 15 | LB | Sam Junqua |
| 16 | CB | Nkosi Tafari |
| 17 | CB | Jose Martinez |
| 18 | CB | Sebastien Ibeagha |
| 19 | CB | Nolan Norris |
| 20 | CB | Amet Korça |
| 21 | RB | Ema Twumasi |
| 22 | RB | Geovane Jesus |
| 23 | GK | Maarten Paes |
| 24 | GK | Jimmy Maurer |
| 25 | GK | Antonio Carrera |
“But wait,” I’m sure some of you are saying, “what about player X?”
Here are the answers…
| Player | Roster Move | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dante Sealy | Loan | PSV |
| Justin Che | Loan | Hoffenheim |
| Isaiah Parker | Loan | San Antonio FC |
| Collin Smith | Loan | Birmingham Legion |
| Herbert Endeley | Loan | North Texas SC |
| Tarik Scott | Injured Reserve |
Additions Coming?
24 is actually less than we expected.
We still think FCD will target a CB in the summer window. And you can see from my methodology there might be a need for an 8 after Brandon Servania was traded but Coach Nico has said they like bringing up players from North Texas or the Academy as part of training to fill that need.
The Justin Che and Dante Sealy loans run out at the end of June. We don’t expect Che to return but Sealy is fairly probable. The Isaiah Parker and Collin Smith loans both have a right or recall. Herbert Endeley is an inter-club loan and he can come to MLS any time if needed.
MLS rosters are not frozen, so FCD can make moves. The secondary MLS transfer window runs from July 5th to August 2nd. MLS rosters freeze on September 13th.