For Orlando City fans, last year's transfer window will be one they'll never forget. From nearly signing the World's 2nd highest goalscorer in 2019 (German Cano) to being heavily linked with the "Romanian Mbappe," (Florinel Coman) the transfer rumors never seemed to end. In between those big-money rumors were the likes of Alvaro Garcia ( Rayo Vallecano winger), Alex Castro (Deportio Cali winger), Claudio Baeza (Necaxa defensive midfielder), Paolo Hurtado (Konyaspor attacking midfielder), and many many more.
In stark contrast to the last offseason, Orlando City has been linked with quite literally nobody. No random agent-made rumors. No random bids for our players. Nothing. Not only that, there's been barely ANY news going on with the club at this moment in time. By this point last offseason, we had secured the likes of Urso, Schlegel, Gallese, and Carlos. Fast forward one year and all we've done is announce roster decisions and re-sign Mauricio Pereyra to a new one-year contract. Both the contract announcement and the roster decisions occurred the day after the season-ending loss to the New England Revolution. I appreciate that the club is in a much more comfortable place competitively and a much more uncomfortable place financially, but the lack of news has been astonishing.
Since the Pereyra contract extension, Orlando City might as well not exist. Some birthday wishes here, some Twitter banter there but nothing substantial has happened since then. In my opinion, this is because everything we've needed to do this offseason is already done. I've been reliably and confidently told that the club is bringing in a left-back, a backup GK, and an attacking piece. I was also told that they might go after a midfielder as well. With the way that information was explained to me, it sounded as though the signings were all but done.
So why wait to announce it you may ask? Two letters: PR. This club knows how to PR properly. It was the perfect PR decision to announce Pereyra's contract the day after the season-ending loss to lift everybody's spirits. For me, we might are in the midst of another very smart PR decision: get the fans as hyped as possible as close to the start of the season as possible. A load of new players brings in a ton of interest from the fans and the closer the new players come to the opening kickoff, the higher the interest in the team. With that being said, I believe it might be TOO quiet for just a little bit longer but be patient, news is around the corner.