FC Dallas announces José Mulato acquisition

FC Dallas has, finally, announced the acquisition of forward José Mulato Palacios from Deportivo Cali through 2025 with club options for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. His contract will take effect on January 1, 2023.

The move was first reported in August. There’s no mention in the FCD press materials of a Bayern Munich buy option or right of refusal.

The 19-year-old Mulato was on loan with North Texas SC in 2022 scoring nine goals with three assists in 21 appearances and 18 starts. Internationally, Mulato is a Colombian U19 and U20.

According to FC Dallas, Mulato was born in Santiago de Cali and began his soccer career in Deportivo Cali’s youth academy and made his professional debut for the Colombian first-division side on January 11, 2020. In 2021, Mulato joined the FC Bayern World Squad, a youth program organized by the German giants. He was invited to train with FC Bayern’s first team under Julian Nagelsmann in October 2021.

The most interesting part of the FC Dallas press release is this, “Mulato became the third player to sign as part of the Elite Player Development partnership between the European powerhouse [aka Bayern] and founding Major League Soccer member [FC Dallas] when he joined North Texas SC on loan.” Justin Che and Chris Richards going to Bayern are the other two players then mentioned.

So the Bayern involvement in this Mulato acquisition is even larger than we thought, it wasn’t just “hey, you guys should take a look at this kid.” Mulato, in effect, becomes the first player “coming the other way” in this FCD/Bayern relationship.

Full Name: José Daniel Mulato Palacios
Connect with José: Instagram
Pronunciation: hOH-seh dah-nee-ul moo-lah-toh pA-LA-see-Os
Position: Forward
Date of Birth: Jan. 9, 2003 (19)
Birthplace: Santiago de Cali, Colombia
Height: 5-9
Weight: 165
Citizenship: Colombia 

José Mulato playing for North Texas SC in 2022. (Courtesy FC Dallas)
José Mulato playing for North Texas SC in 2022. (Courtesy FC Dallas)

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