FRISCO, Texas – Following Tuesday’s announcement that FC Dallas had traded Andrew Jacobson to New York City FC, FCD head coach Oscar Pareja said that although the team would miss the veteran midfielder, the team needed to make the change.
“We respect him a lot,” Pareja said of the California native, who brought a third-round pick in the 2016 SuperDraft in exchange. “He has been a great asset for the group. He has been a great leader on and off the field.
“You want to keep them all, but at the moment, we considered that AJ’s move would help us to create some space at some positions that we need help.”
The move gives the club considerable flexibility.
This trade alone gives them a roster spot and salary cap room. Combine it with the pending sale of Homegrown goalkeeper Richard Sanchez to Tigres UANL of the Liga MX and Dallas’ place at No. 2 on the allocation order, and the team is in prime position to make a move with the busy summer transfer market in full swing.
What the team does with those resources is less clear. Pareja was unwilling to discuss specifics, but the team has been struggling with injuries to a number of players all season and have yet to start their expected center back pairing of Matt Hedges and George John due to the latter's lingering injury situation.
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One bit of good news on the injury front came in the form of an update on Hedges, who had to sub out of the game against Vancouver with concussion-like symptoms.
“He is doing much better,” Pareja said. “I think he will be on track very soon. I think we will have him available on Sunday [at Chivas USA].”
