“It’s done” as Frodo Baggins famously said in the Lord of the Rings! Orlando City SC‘s most protracted transfer saga ever is now over with Facundo Torres officially being announced as the Lions’ second off-season signing.
Signed as a Young Designated Player, the 21-year-old Uruguay international arrives at Exploria Stadium on a four-year deal from current Primera División champions Peñarol.
NEWS: #OrlandoCity acquires Uruguayan forward Facundo Torres. @facutorresss | #VamosOrlando
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) January 24, 2022
🦁 See you soon! 👊🏼🟣⚪️ #VamosOrlando https://t.co/mejSPTZU9l
— Facu Torres (@facutorresss) January 24, 2022
Heavily linked with Orlando City SC since the start of December, Facundo Torres‘ arrival follows Chris Mueller, Nani and Daryl Dike‘s departures after the end of 2021.
Back on December 7, 2021, Torres scored in regular time as Peñarol became champions of the Uruguayan Primera División.
Beating Plaza Colonia 7-8 on penalties (1-1 A.E.T.) in the semi-final, no final was required by virtue of Peñarol having the best aggregate results in 2021.
His penultimate appearance in a Peñarol jersey, Facu Torres would spend the next two months reading countless tweets from journalists and supporters speculating over his immediate future.
Retracing #FacuWatch
Back on January 5, Orlando City SC Technical Director Ricardo Moreira posted a cryptic tweet.
Patience is virtue. #wednesdaywisdom
— Ricardo Moreira (@9ricardomoreira) January 5, 2022
With Orlando City SC supporter patience running thin with no off-season recruits by that point, Ricardo Moreira‘s poise, patience and perseverance has now paid off.
On January 15, Ricardo Moreira teased the Orlando City SC fanbase by simply tweeting Alex Leitão’s signature eyes (👀) emoji.
On January 20, Orlando City SC Soccer Operations Advisor Alex Leitão then simply tweeted a short clip of James Brown singing “I Feel Good”.
— Alex Leitao (@alexleitao) January 20, 2022
Excitement then reached fever pitch a day later on January 21.
Before Orlando City SC‘s official announcement, Jaime Ojeda tweeted a photo of Facundo Torres signing his City contract in his native Uruguay.
This preceded Facundo Torres updating his Twitter bio to include Orlando City SC the very same day.
By this point, #OCTwitter knew Facu was finally ours!
𝙇𝘼𝘿𝙄𝙀𝙎 & 𝙂𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙇𝙀𝙈𝙀𝙉, 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙒𝙀𝙀𝙆𝙀𝙉𝘿! pic.twitter.com/CBub9OikKv
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) January 21, 2022
A subtle tweet from Orlando City SC, also on January 21, teased Facundo Torres‘ impending arrival, referencing Torres’ nickname “Cuervo” (“Crow”).
As the crow flies. pic.twitter.com/z7mqDrJRYU
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) January 21, 2022
According to the Orlando Sentinel’s Mike Gramajo, Orlando City SC have paid a club-record fee of $7.5 million and $1.5 million in bonuses to Peñarol for 100% of Torres’ rights.
It’s most certainly a landmark moment in Orlando City SC club history.
Who is Facundo Torres?
Nicknamed “Facu” for short, Facundo Torres is a left winger signed from Uruguayan Primera División giants Peñarol.
21-years-old, he can also play as a right winger or secondary striker too, according to Transfermarkt
Left-footed, Facundo Torres stands at 5 ft 10 in.
A youth academy product of Peñarol, Torres made his professional debut for Carboneros in August 2020.
On December 9, journalist Luis Carlos Pineda reported that in all competitions, Facundo Torres played 71 times for Peñarol, scoring 16 goals, and registering 15 assists.
On the international stage, Torres made his senior debut with Uruguay in June 2021.
He replaced Jonathan Rodríguez as a 66th minute substitute in a 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Paraguay.
Uruguay head coach Óscar Tabárez also included Facundo Torres in a 26-man squad that competed at the 2021 Copa América.
This was alongside senior men like Diego Godín, Luis Suárez, and Federico Valverde.
To date, Torres has made 10 senior international appearances for La Celeste.
>> CLICK HERE TO VIEW FACUNDO TORRES’ PLAYER PROFILE <<
NEW SIGNING 🚨 | Facundo Torres (@facutorresss) joins @OrlandoCitySC. 💜🦁💛
⚽️ LW / RW
🗓 13 April 2000
🇺🇾 Uruguay
⬆️ 5 ft 10 in
🇺🇾 @OficialCAP ➡️ @OrlandoCitySC 🇺🇸
👕 Jersey #1️⃣7️⃣VIEW PLAYER PROFILE 📕: https://t.co/d9UBXouzqN#OCTwitter #OrlandoCity #VamosOrlando #MLSUK pic.twitter.com/bFZ2gJfcUT
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) January 24, 2022
The fans’ view
With #OCTwitter currently reacting to Facundo Torres‘ official announcement as an Orlando City SC player, we gathered the best tweets following his arrival.
The Facundo Torres saga pic.twitter.com/aesz2rlQpg
— Sebastian Arbelaez (@SebArbelaez) January 21, 2022
Works for me! @facutorresss Welcome to the most Massive club on this planet 🌴😎🌴 pic.twitter.com/GifTsWYYCk
— RUCKUS. (@RuckusOrlando) January 22, 2022
On a scale of 1-10, 1 being incredibly stoked and 10 being doing laps around the moon, how are we feeling about the Torres deal #OCTwitter?#VamosOrlando #OrlandoCity pic.twitter.com/T029y7J7ot
— The English Lion 🦁⛲ (@TheEnglishLion1) January 22, 2022
My smile is ear to ear.. confirmation of one of the best pieces of news in this clubs history. pic.twitter.com/VgoA8BvdMK
— Chris (@OrlandoCountySC) January 22, 2022
A PSA on #FacuWatch #vamosorlando 😎 pic.twitter.com/FiYzedAjKi
— The Legendary David Valentin (@Florida_man76) January 21, 2022
He is clearly excited, big move for the guy, hopefully he is not overwhelmed.
— David Manock (@dmanock) January 21, 2022
— Jason Redd ⭐️⭐️ (@JasonSRedd) January 21, 2022
One of the most exciting signings of the winter IMO https://t.co/FP7NJqtzEQ
— Andrew Wiebe (@andrew_wiebe) January 24, 2022
— Lionsblog (@lionsblog1) January 24, 2022
— Wheres the rotating lion statue ? (@CarlosOCSC) January 24, 2022
#orlandocity supporters are really going to enjoy having this guy on their team. Bienvenido Facu! #vamosorlando https://t.co/KFumzmf50V
— Miguel Gallardo (@migallardo01) January 24, 2022
Need to give @Florida_man76 his props for his legendary reporting. 👍🦁💜
— Alex (@0rlandoCityLion) January 24, 2022
It is done.
Facundo Torres, a full Uruguayan international at age 21 and one of the most promising prospects in all of South American soccer, is an #OrlandoCity player.
This is a big deal. https://t.co/tnhLOJNG9U
— Evan Weston (@EvanLWeston) January 24, 2022
Welcome to the family @facutorresss 💜🦁
— Tesho Time (@ForeverOurCity) January 24, 2022
IT’S OFFICIAL! 💜
Welcome Facu 🦁💪🏼✨ https://t.co/LxfX36vKzp
— Gabrielle Amado (@gabamado) January 24, 2022
Welcome to Orlando, Facu!
On behalf of Orlando City UK, we wish Facu Torres the very best of luck in Central Florida.
You can follow the forward on his own personal Instagram and Twitter accounts too.
It’s also been confirmed that Facu will wear squad number 17 at Orlando City SC, inheriting this number from former club captain Nani.
💜 𝙒𝙀𝙇𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙀 𝙏𝙊 𝙊𝙍𝙇𝘼𝙉𝘿𝙊 💛
🇺🇾💫
𝗙 𝗧
𝗙 𝗔 𝗖 𝗨 𝗡 𝗗 𝗢
𝗖 𝗥
𝗨 𝗥
𝗘
𝗦1️⃣7️⃣#OCTwitter #OrlandoCity #MLSUK pic.twitter.com/U04zyTP3Ne
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) January 24, 2022
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