FRISCO, Texas — Be wary, MLS: FC Dallas are not planning to rest on their league-leading laurels.
“We are strongly searching for another player,” FCD technical director Fernando Clavijo told MLSsoccer.com at practice on Wednesday. “The team is doing well when you look at the results … but I think that when you look ahead and you are looking to win a championship, you need to be strong and you need to have options at each position and right now we are a little bit limited in some of them.”
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FC Dallas have depth at goalkeeper, along the backline and at forward, but striker Kenny Cooper has often been deployed at right mid and newcomer Michel has been slotted into a holding midfield role instead of his preferred left back spot.
“When you look at it, we have Jackson and Fabián Castillo wide, when you look at central midfield, you have [Andrew Jacobson] and Michel, who have done a great job," Clavijo explained. "We have Ramón Núñez offensively if David Ferreira gets hurt. So it is definitely fair to say the midfield is the place we need to look and give the coach more options.”
FCD hope to make a move early in the summer transfer window in order to have time to integrate the player into the team before the meat of their schedule and the playoffs.
Clavijo said they have targeted three candidates that fit the profile they are looking for: An established player that can bring experience, leadership and Designated Player-level quality to the midfield.
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Clavijo went on to say that the players they are looking at want to move to Dallas and be a part of this team.
“Right now, they want to come,” he said. “They know that the league is very competitive and that they could be here for a career and not just for a trampoline to jump and try to go somewhere else. It’s better for us, because the league keeps growing and giving us an opportunity to be more of a target for many people around the world.”
