Every season, FC Dallas will send a few players out on loan to get them the minutes they need to further their development paths.
Going into the 2023 season, there were four official loans (two domestic and two European) and a few unofficial ones to the club’s second team, North Texas SC.
Today, there are just a pair of official loans, as Dante Sealy and Justin Che saw their European loans end back in June. Sealy rejoined FC Dallas, while Che was sold to Danish Superliga club Brøndby. That leaves Collin Smith and Isaiah Parker on the official loan side in the USL Championship.
Let’s dive into those players out on loan in the USL Championship and take a quick look at some of the unofficial loans to North Texas SC.
Collin Smith - Birmingham Legion (USL Championship)
Let’s start with what may be the best example of how to do a loan right in 2023 for FC Dallas. Smith spent the last couple of seasons with North Texas SC and was clearly excelling at that level, but given the early-season log jam at right back with Ema Twumasi and Geovane Jesus, he needed to find minutes elsewhere.
FC Dallas shipped him off to Birmingham in the USL-C, and so far, the move has been exactly what he needed. He’s appeared in 19 games for Birmingham, scoring one goal (see below) and adding one assist. He’s had several recalls back to FC Dallas during the summer months when both Twumasi and Jesus were injured, appearing in two games for FCD in that span.
Birmingham is in the thick of things in the USL-C Eastern Conference too. As of this writing, they’re in seventh place, which is good enough for a playoff spot.
Isaiah Parker - San Antonio FC (USL Championship)
The other official loan FC Dallas has at the moment is their first round draft pick from 2022. Parker showed well in his rookie year with North Texas SC and, like Smith, needed to find playing time elsewhere in 2023 with Marco Farfan and Sam Junqua at left back.
Things haven’t gone as smoothly for Parker in the USL-C as it has for Smith. Parker has struggled to earn minutes with San Antonio, which happens to be one of the best teams in the USL-C right now. Injuries have happened at times, keeping Parker off the field too.
So far in 2023, Parker has only appeared in eight games for San Antonio.
The one thing helping Parker with FC Dallas is his Generation adidas tag on his contract. GA players do not count against the salary cap, so FC Dallas can afford to be a little patient with Parker.
North Texas SC “loans”
FC Dallas doesn’t officially loan players to North Texas SC in the same way that Parker and Smith were loaned out to USL-C clubs. It is more fluid and week-to-week for these players1.
Antonio Carrerra
Carrerra falls under the unofficial loans to NTSC. He’s technically on a hybrid contract as an HGP with FC Dallas but designated to NTSC.
Carrerra has been decent with NTSC, starting in 14 games this year when he hasn’t been with FCD or away on national team duty. The NTSC defense hasn’t been great this season, and because of that, Carrerra has given up 22 goals (or 1.57 goals per game) this season. He also has a 4-10-0 record, which…isn’t great.
Jose Maluto
Maluto is like Carrerra in the sense that he’s, for the most part, on loan to NTSC but gets called up to FC Dallas from time to time2.
In the 15 games with NTSC this season, Maluto continues to find the back of the net. He currently leads the team in scoring with seven goals this season. He has also added two assists.
I do wonder if next season Maluto will need to get a loan similar to Parker and Smith in the USL-C. He’s been really good at the MLS NEXT Pro level, but it should be time to see what he can do against better competition.
Nolan Norris
Norris has had an interesting season for both FC Dallas and NTSC. Most would have expected him to be mostly with NTSC this season, but when the injury bug hit FCD, Norris saw his name called up more by the first team, where he was able to earn a pair of starts.
With NTSC, he has appeared and started in nine games. He’s bounced around in a couple of positions with both teams too this season. Either be at fullback, center back or in the defensive midfield.
Herbert Endeley
The 2023 SuperDraft pick for FC Dallas was always expected to spend some time with NTSC this season, but he has seen his name appear in the lineup for FC Dallas as well.
With NTSC, he’s appeared in 12 games, starting 11 of those games. He’s found the back of the net three times and added one assist.
Amet Korca
Lastly, we’ll look at Korca, who was brought in by FC Dallas ahead of the 2023 season as some added defensive depth. Like the others mentioned above, he’s bounced between both first and second team rosters this season.
With NTSC, he’s appeared in 10 games, starting nine of them.
Bernard Kamungo has also appeared with NTSC this year, but for the sake of this piece, we’re leaving him off this rundown since he has primarily been with FCD since the spring. The other guys have bounced back and forth more. ↩
I would assume that will happen less as the season wraps up, given that FCD has used up all of their international roster slots and adding Maluto back to the mix would require them to get another one. ↩
Comments