Club Tijuana announced on Monday evening that manager Oscar Pareja has parted with the Liga MX club, possibly clearing a path for the former FC Dallas boss to make a return to MLS’s coaching ranks.
Pareja spent a year in charge of Xolos, qualifying for the Liguilla (playoffs) in the 2019 Clausura last spring but missing out on the postseason in the just-completed Apertura regular season. He joined the border club after five years in charge of FCD, where his teams qualified for the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs every year save one and won a Supporters’ Shield-U.S. Open Cup double in 2016.
The Colombian has been heavily linked to Orlando City SC, who dismissed coach James O’Connor immediately after the conclusion of their 2019 campaign last month.
Over the weekend journalist Cesar Luis Merlo reported that Orlando – where Pareja’s former FCD colleague Luiz Muzzi is executive VP of soccer operations – have offered “Papi” a multi-year contract on higher wages than he was earning in Tijuana.
But ESPN analyst Taylor Twellman took to Twitter on Monday to hint that a Pareja-to-Orlando outcome is not necessarily a fait accompli, alluding to another MLS suitor potentially in the mix:
In addition to the Lions, Chicago Fire FC, Inter Miami CF, New York City FC and Real Salt Lake are without head coaches at present.
