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Orlando City SC endured their worst season in MLS in 2018 and will be looking at the transfer window to at the very least continue the rebuild that began under Jason Kreis last off-season, and at most, completely start over again.
Last week we discovered who had been retained by the club and who is exiting Orlando City Stadium with gaps appearing in certain positions, particularly at goalkeeper and right back.
However, with Orlando City SC‘s ownership group frugal in their approach to squad building and no Designated Player spots likely to open up as a result, there won’t be many people holding their breath for a big winter purchase.
So in the second of our series, here is the latest look at which free agents or players with contracts expiring in summer could be ideal targets for bargain bids by the Lions this off-season.
1. GK Osman Hadzikic (22)
Alongside Orlando City SC’s own Joe Bendik, MLS has seen regulars Clint Irwin and Stefan Marinovic hitting free agency via Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps respectively but with both posting save percentages even lower than Bendik in 2018, perhaps the Lions should look elsewhere.
New York Red Bulls have a direct line to Austria via Red Bull Salzburg and have used it to bring a player on loan for the last couple of seasons but elsewhere Columbus Crew, Vancouver Whitecaps and New York City FC have successfully imported from the league recently in the shape of Ola Kamara, Yordy Reyna and Ismael Tajouri-Shradi. Is it possible then that Orlando could maybe look to Kamara and Tajouri’s former Austria Wien teammate Osman Hadzikic to fix their goalkeeper troubles?
The former Austrian Under-21 international came up through the youth system before making his debut aged 19 and winning the starting job in the 16/17 season. He recorded 17 clean sheets in 57 Bundesliga games for the Violets before seeing his contract end this summer. With interest from NEC Nijmegen in the Netherlands and Turkish Super Lig side Bursaspor, the 22-year-old would be a shot in the dark but with potential for a huge upside in a position that management has continually struggled to nail down.
2. GK Diego Cavalieri (35)
A more veteran presence at the keeper position and one in keeping with the Brazilian influence at the club, Diego Cavalieri’s early career performances with Palmeiras earned him a move to Liverpool in 2008. He featured for the senior team in cup games but failed to make a league appearance on Merseyside behind Pepe Reina, and suffered the same obscurity on a loan spell in Italy with Cesena.
A move back to Brazil with Fluminense saw him return to a starting role, one that he kept hold of for six seasons until the end of 2017. Reuniting with Roy Hodgson in England in March of this year as backup for Crystal Palace, he was apparently monitored by Manchester City earlier this season as they underwent a keeper crisis of their own but he remains a free agent and has made public his interest to remain abroad despite offers from Brazil.
3. CB Steven Caulker (26)
It is no secret Orlando City SC need help in defence. They struggled to keep either of their highly-paid centre backs Lamine Sané and Jonathan Spector healthy as the team set a new record for goals conceding with Spector set not to return in 2019. Step up Steven Caulker.
Caulker spent last year in the Scottish Premier League with Dundee but, after helping them to avoid relegation last time out, chose to trigger a release clause in his contract on transfer deadline day as he decided to “go in search of a new challenge”, frustrating for The Dee who had earlier rejected a club-record bid from Norwegian champions Rosenborg.
The former Tottenham, Cardiff City, QPR and Liverpool defender has more recently courted interest from several English Championship teams as well as Arsenal Kyiv in the Ukrainian Premier League but the former England international, who gained his only cap as a promising 20-year-old in 2012 as well as featuring in the Great British Olympic team that year, still remains a free agent for now.
However, he seems an ideal candidate for an MLS move with the likes of Wayne Rooney and Johnny Russell thriving after similar moves although perhaps Tommy Smith and Michael Mancienne are more cautionary tales about defenders making the switch stateside.
4. CB Alexander Milosevic (26)
Orlando City SC have already bought well once from Sweden when signing Yoshimar Yotún in 2017 from Malmo, a trend that extends throughout the league with the likes of Anton Tinnerholm, Magnus Eriksson and Adam Lundqvist taking the same path. Now reports out of Sweden suggest free agent Milosevic is angling for a move abroad just a year after returning to AIK.
Having originally departed for Turkish club Besiktas in 2015, the towering centre back was loaned out to Bundesliga teams Hannover and Darmstadt before frustration at the lack of playing time with the Black Eagles forced him to depart.
In his first season back in Stockholm the Swedish international helped guide AIK to their first Allsvenskan title in nearly a decade, earning plaudits as one of the league’s standout defenders as the team only conceded 16 goals in 30 games.
5. LB Pedro Botelho (28)
Aged just 17, Pedro Botelho signed a contract with Arsenal but an issue with work permits meant he spent his entire half decade with the London club on loan in Spain. In 2012 he returned to Brazil with Atletico Paranaense and, other than a brief loan spell to Portugal, has been bouncing between teams in the top two leagues in Brazil for six seasons.
Now a free agent, Botelho could appeal to the Brazilian hierarchy at Orlando City SC who continue to heavily scout South America as they seek to improve the left back position, providing competition for Mohamed El-Munir and PC as a versatile wing back not unfamiliar with playing as a midfielder.
6. RB Dennis Diekmeier (28)
Thirty-two-year-old Scott Sutter had a sturdy debut season at Orlando City SC in 2017 and was one of the better performers in 2018 when available but a leg injury kept him out for a third of the season and the club decided to part ways with him leaving perennial back-up R. J. Allen as the only player currently left at the position.
And with uncertainty surrounding his future under James O’Connor who had started the New Jersey native in his first four games in charge but featured only once in the remaining 13, experienced German right back Dennis Diekmeier would be a top quality addition.
With over 200 Bundesliga appearances under his belt, former youth international Diekmeier ended a seven-year stint with relegated Hamburg in the summer following a contract dispute and is still a free agent despite interest from several German teams as well as Turkey and the English Championship.
7. CDM Caleb Stanko (25)
Defensive midfield is a position at which Orlando City SC have plenty of bodies but haven’t seen much benefit from. Latest acquisition Carlos Ascues hit the ground running but Uri Rosell was all too often a passenger in games, rookie Cam Lindley didn’t see the field past the opening four games of the year, Cristian Higuita has adopted a more attacking role and Will Johnson is being deployed anywhere and everywhere to add further inconsistency.
Meanwhile rumours continue to swirl around the Lions’ apparent interest in Seattle Sounders veteran Osvaldo Alonso who didn’t have his contract renewed at the end of 2018. Should Orlando City SC invest in a 33-year-old midfield general who, despite winning every domestic honour, isn’t getting younger? Or should they instead look at 25-year-old Caleb Stanko who instead of entering the prime of his career is struggling to make an impact at Freiburg with his contract set to expire next summer.
Having moved from U.S. Soccer Development Academy club Vardar SC in 2011, Stanko broke into the Freiburg senior squad in their 2015/16 promotion campaign making five appearances before spending the following season on-loan in the Swiss Super League.
Having only mustered five further Bundesliga appearances last season and currently recovering from a knee injury that required surgery, Stanko will be looking to force his way back into the USMNT picture with only one cap under Jurgen Klinsmann to his name so far and may see MLS as the perfect platform in which to cement a regular starting role right under the nose of new national team head coach Gregg Berhalter.
8. CM Elkin Blanco (29)
As previously mentioned, Orlando City SC have a glut of defensively minded midfielders but have still proved passive and struggled to win possession despite James O’Connor often setting the team up to defend increasingly deeper to the point they merge with the back line.
Tempo and tenacity is needed higher up the pitch and with Orlando City SC being no stranger to Colombian midfielders – Cristian Higuita currently the leading appearance maker in the club’s MLS era – and the team could be tempted to pair him with his compatriot Elkin Blanco who was apparently close to signing for Brazilian top flight club Sport Recife over summer but failed a medical, likely due to the ankle injury he recently had operated on.
A tenacious, good-tackling midfielder who always looks to move the ball forward quickly and isn’t afraid to shoot from distance, the former Millonarios man became a real fan favourite at Atletico Nacional as the team won the Copa Libertadores and Liga Aguila in 2017 and would be an ideal addition to the Lions’ midfield.
9. LW Kekuta Manneh (23) or LW Fidel Martinez (28)
Two recommendations for the price of one here: The fourth overall pick in the 2013 draft, Kekuta Manneh spent five seasons in MLS with Vancouver Whitecaps and Columbus Crew, making a name for himself as one of the league’s fastest players and had attracted interest from Premier League teams aged 19.
Utilising his speed as a direct winger, he relished one-on-ones and took every opportunity to drive into the box. However, it wasn’t until 2017 that he made the decision to leave, fielding offers from Mexico and Europe. In the end he settled on Liga MX side Pachuca but after a dismal league campaign that saw him feature for only eight minutes, the Gambian, who received a call up to a USMNT training camp in 2017 but is yet to be capped, escaped to St. Gallen in Switzerland on a free transfer despite spending the summer training with his former employers Vancouver Whitecaps.
A proven MLS talent with domestic status, his contract expires in the summer and could look to return to a league in which he thrived in and pushed for a national team spot although with whispers that Whitecaps could look to Manneh again to replace the outgoing Alphonso Davies, there could be serious competition for his signature.
Elsewhere, Ecuadorian international Fidel Martinez, who was the talk of MLS when he was transfer listed by fellow Liga MX team Atlas last December but instead ended up in Uruguay with Penarol on loan, is now a free agent and has announced he will take his time to assess his options while training back in Ecuador with Guayaquil City to keep his fitness levels up.
With Yoshimar Yotún the only regular left winger currently on the books (although Mohamed El-Munir vacated his left back position to provide cover during the 2018 FIFA World Cup and Pierre da Silva has been out of favour with all three Orlando City SC managers so far), either would be important acquisitions.
10. RW Jerome Kiesewetter (25)
The Berlin-born winger, who has two caps for the USMNT, went on trial with Eredivisie side VVV-Venlo and 2. Bundesliga’s Erzgebirge Aue over the summer but neither made a permanent offer. Having bounced around Germany with Hertha Berlin, Stuttgart and most recently Fortuna Dusseldorf, he made his Bundesliga debut in 2015 but most of his experience has been in 2. Bundesliga and 3.Liga.
Needless to say he seems like a hopeful reclamation project more than an impact starter but with a budget-friendly salary and domestic player status, a move to MLS could rekindle the 25-year-old’s career and bolster depth at the wide position for Orlando City SC who already shipped out Justin Meram and released Jose Villarreal, who cost Orlando City SC a third-round draft pick and only managing 71 minutes across all competitions in 2018.
While Chris Mueller started the season hot, his production dropped off and there was little competition to force his hand – both Jason Kreis and James O’Connor struggled to get anything out of Josué Colmán either centrally or out wide, and O’Connor later tried to shoehorn Cristian Higuita and Will Johnson in the position to little effect.
11. CAM Sammir (31)
Creative playmaker Jorge Sammir Cruz Campos is four years removed from his peak days at Dinamo Zagreb but doesn’t appear to have lost his pace or elusiveness. Now 31, the Brazlian-born Croatia international has more recently been plying his trade in China but has been without a club since February and is rumoured to be coveted by Brazilian outfit Santos.
An accomplished passer and dribbler, Sammir would stand out as a proven talent in a position group that is currently made up of MLS veteran Sacha Kljestan who struggled to find his feet in purple, and Young Designated Player Josué Colmán who struggled to find the field at all and lacked the production when he did.
12. CF Andrew Wooten (29)
Another German-born United States international, Andrew Wooten has been a fairly regular goalscorer in his time at Kaiserslautern and Sandhausen, netting a 2. Bundesliga goal every 250 minutes. After missing the majority of last season with muscle injuries, he has started the new season in great form, scoring four goals in eight appearances as a centre forward.
With Orlando City SC looking for depth upfront, Wooten’s physique offers a different dynamic should James O’Connor either want to partner him with, or use him instead of, Dom Dwyer who has been playing as a poacher.
However, Andrew Wooten’s injuries last year highlighted how short at the position Sandhausen were and as a result it may be difficult to convince them to part ways. Although an essential part of Sandhausen’s attack when available, with his contract expiring in summer and approaching 30, there’s potential for Orlando City SC to force their hand and sell now.
13. ST Kaylen Hinds (20)
Twenty-year-old Arsenal academy graduate Kaylen Hinds made the same Bundesliga leap that has proved fruitful for the likes of fellow Englishman Jadon Sancho, Reiss Nelson and Ademola Lookman.
However, frustrated at the lack of first team opportunities at Wolfsburg and being left to his own devices in a country where he didn’t know anyone or speak the language, the England Under-20 striker grew jaded and failed to report for pre-season amidst a story about a missing passport but as the weeks rolled on with no sign of Hinds, the team were forced to terminate the youngster’s contract.
Seemingly a long shot with evident discipline issues, Kaylen Hinds is technically gifted with a good eye for goal who has the potential to thrive in Central Florida as MLS would fulfill his ambitions of seeking first team opportunities abroad in an English-speaking country, giving him the necessary experience at a young age to later succeed in Europe.