Less than a week after FC Dallas made their end-of-year roster announcements, we have our first offseason addition to discuss.
FC Dallas has signed Romanian winger Enes Sali to a four-year contract with a one-year club option as part of the MLS U-22 Initiative. Sali joins Dallas after spending two years with FCV Farul Constanța of the SuperLiga, the first tier of men’s soccer in Romania.
Sali will occupy an international roster spot pending receipt of his P-1 Visa and International Transfer Certificate (ITC).
The 17-year old joins FC Dallas after spending the past couple of seasons with Farul Constanta. Sali made his professional debut with Farul on August 9, 2021, at age 15 years, six months and six days. Sali would register his first professional goal on September 13, 2021, becoming the youngest player to score in the SuperLiga at 15 years, six months and 21 days. Sali accumulated 56 appearances with the Romanian side, scoring four and assisting twice across all competitions.
On the international stage, Sali represents Romania and is the youngest player to make his Romania national team debut after appearing for the national team on November 14, 2021, in a World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein at age 15 years, eight months and 22 days. Sali became the second youngest European international debutant of the 21st century. Most recently, Sali represented Romania’s U19 side in the UEFA Euro U19 Championship Qualifiers matchups against Finland, San Marino and the Czech Republic.
My Take
It is starting to feel like an annual thing for FC Dallas to go out and sign some young up-and-coming European player from one of the smaller countries over there. Some have worked out in the past for a season or two (think Reto Ziegler or Zdensek Ondrasek), while others become a bust right away as they get homesick, realize that Texas is not like Europe or just fail to make any sort of impact on the field.
Signing a guy, especially a young guy in this case, who has never left home will be a huge gamble. I would like to think this is going to be a great signing that can help the team, especially with Alan Velasco out of action for most of 2024, but he will have to put the work in once he arrives here.
He does come with some special talent though if you buy into the hype videos like the one above. Hopefully, that translates well to MLS.
What do you all think of this signing?
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