After Monday rumours of Martín Ojeda joining Boca Juniors, another transfer has now been made official with Orlando City SC’s Gastón González joining Uruguayan giants Nacional on a one-year loan with an option to buy.
Quickly reuniting with Mauricio Pereyra who re-joined Nacional back in December, González has failed to hit the ground running at Inter&Co Stadium. Limited to a bit-part role under Oscar Pareja, the 22-year-old has only made seven Major League Soccer starts and tallied just 712 minutes following his May 2022 arrival from Unión de Santa Fe and subsequent spell on the sidelines with a long-term cruciate ligament injury.
NEWS: We have loaned forward Gastón González to Uruguay’s @Nacional. #VamosOrlando
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) January 27, 2024
👋🏼 ¡𝗕𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗱𝗼, “𝗧𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗮”! 🔵⚪️🔴
🇦🇷 Gastón González, un nuevo Tricolor que llega del @OrlandoCitySC para la temporada 💪🏼#ElClubGigante pic.twitter.com/0ZKlzVCdKB
— Nacional (@Nacional) January 27, 2024
News of this Gastón González loan was first broke by Argentine journalist Germán García Grova and corroborated by César Luis Merlo in the early hours of Tuesday morning (GMT).
🚨Gastón González reforzará #Nacional 🇺🇾
👉🏾#OrlandoCity y el “Bolso” alcanzaron un acuerdo de palabra por un préstamo hasta fin de año. pic.twitter.com/XMwGr6zfVS
— Germán García Grova (@GerGarciaGrova) January 23, 2024
🚨El delantero Gastón González llegó a un acuerdo de palabra para jugar en Nacional.
*️⃣Orlando City lo cede a préstamo por un año y con opción de compra. #TratoHecho pic.twitter.com/awYusMimz5— César Luis Merlo (@CLMerlo) January 23, 2024
Back on January 19, North American transfer expert Tom Bogert tweeted that Orlando City SC could sign a third senior Designated Player this winter if there was a way to buy down two of City’s U22 Initiative players with General Allocation Money.
he does not. the way to have a third senior DP would be if there’s a way to buy down two of the U-22 initiative players with allocation money
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) January 19, 2024
With Gastón González being one of these U22 Initiative players alongside César Araújo and Ramiro Enrique, it appears that Luiz Muzzi and Ricardo Moreira have got creative with this Gastón González loan – and City’s 2024 roster building.
Some rumours, albeit flimsy, persist about Stoke City’s interest in Duncan McGuire and Orlando City SC’s interest in Divock Origi this winter.
With Gastón González now temporarily of off the wage bill, it will be interesting to see what Orlando City SC‘s next chess move may be.
Orlando City SC supporters’ view
Orlando City UK gathered the best tweets after the announcement of Gastón González joining Nacional on a one-year loan.
🇦🇷🦁 𝙇𝙄𝙊𝙉 𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝙊𝙉 𝙇𝙊𝘼𝙉 🦁🇦🇷
Limited to a bit-part role, Gastón González has only made 7 @MLS starts & tallied just 712 minutes so far.
A U22 player, it appears Muzzi & Moreira have got creative with this loan & our 2024 roster build.#OCTwitter #OrlandoCity #MLSUK pic.twitter.com/NbB6GT5L2c
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) January 27, 2024
Gaston Gonzalez joins Mauricio Pereyra at Nacional on a one year loan.
I am sure Gaston will show out during his loan and continue to get better #VamosOrlando https://t.co/3150KKGbVB
— 🏆 Orlando Lions Den Podcast (@OrlandoLionsDen) January 24, 2024
I’m fine with this.
He was third on the depth chart at left wing at best and 3rd on right wing if he switched too
I wonder what this does for his u22 spot. https://t.co/BdOL0qGoDB
— Antonio Cruz🏆 (@EddieTheCommish) January 23, 2024
It’s not really worked out.
Good luck to him.#OrlandoCity https://t.co/jvUTgR8jsp
— The English Lion (@TheEnglishLion1) January 23, 2024
The left side of our pitch is looking very interesting this season. https://t.co/9A1CIqyrcE
— Orlando City Fan TV (@OCFanTV22) January 23, 2024
I meannnnnnnnnnn. Depth is important. https://t.co/oIecFUVL2D pic.twitter.com/Sr5VbMnzG7
— spence_beatriceOCSC (@FloridaisPurple) January 23, 2024
He will still play with Mauricio but this makes no sense. Attacking and defense are thin. Idk what Muzzi is cooking but needs to give us something
— Kyle Meerdo (@MeerdsBeards) January 23, 2024
Ugh. How many more guys are leaving? Geeze.
— Im tired. Tired? Yes, I’m f@#$ing tired. (@Imtired161) January 23, 2024
The poor young man was played full time in his old club last tournament very bad decision and he unfortunately paid the price
— Gnocchi 🇮🇹🇺🇸🇬🇧 (@mtbh12) January 23, 2024
Mauricio sent us Nico and took Gaston with him 😂 https://t.co/EKMohAtsNU
— Antonio Cruz🏆 (@EddieTheCommish) January 23, 2024
⚽️ Gastón González en su llegada a Uruguay para convertirse en nuevo jugador de @Nacional
🎙"Feliz por la oportunidad. Estoy con muchas ganas".
🎙 "Me gusta el mano a mano, encarar y asistir. Me gusta atacar".pic.twitter.com/x8Gz5p9jUd
— BUYSAN (@Buysan) January 25, 2024
There he goes.. pic.twitter.com/yarTHPoRIl
— PattyValentine💜🦁⚽🏆 (@p_a_valentine) January 26, 2024
…
Support Orlando City UK
Passionate about what we do, Orlando City UK content will always be free. The most important thing for us is sharing our love of Orlando City SC with you all and donations are by no means expected. However, if you enjoy our content, a token towards the regular maintenance of Orlando City UK is hugely appreciated!
