It doesn’t look like Carlo Costly will be coming back to Houston anytime soon.
With the Honduran international currently out of contract and searching for the next stop in his career, Costly’s representation reached out to the Houston Dynamo to gauge their interest in bringing him back. After what Dynamo president Chris Canetti termed as “several weeks” of talks, both sides came to the conclusion last week that a deal to bring him back for an encore performance was not in the cards.
WATCH: Costly scores in Eastern Championship
“It came to our attention that Carlo had an interest in coming back to Houston, and we thought that was worthy of exploring,” Canetti told MLSsoccer.com via phone on Tuesday. “We thought it would have been a good idea to get him back, but we knew that in order to get a deal done it would have to be at the right price.
“We put a proposal out that was the best we could do but he decided that it was something he couldn’t do.”
The fact that Costly reached out to the Dynamo should not come as a surprise.
The club and the player parted on good terms, and Costly was a popular player in the Dynamo locker room after coming to the club in August on a loan stint from Mexican club Atlas. The 6-foot-2 striker made 15 appearances for the club and notched two goals, including an insurance goal against Sporting Kansas City in the Eastern Conference Championship.
Despite the amicable relationship, the club declined their option to keep him in Houston but made an offer in an attempt to keep him in the fold. Costly decided to return to Atlas but was released last month. Because the Dynamo made a legitimate offer, the club retains his MLS rights.
However, based on recent negotiations, the possibility of him donning an orange jersey again seems remote at this point. But that does not mean the club has shut the door to the idea while they continue to look for possible solutions at the forward position.
“Should his position change in the future, we would be open to it,” Canetti said. “Carlo brought value to the organization last year and fit in well with the team. At the same time, we’re continuing to look at other things and once other moves are made that will change our position on everything.”
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.
