A day after trading the best Homegrown Player in the club’s history, FC Dallas has added six new HGPs to the roster ahead of the 2025 season.

FC Dallas announced on Thursday the signings of goalkeeper Michael Collodi, defender Malachi Molina, midfielders Diego García and Anthony Ramirez, and forwards Daniel Baran and Diego Pepi to Homegrown deals.

For those counting, this marks the club's 38th, 39th, 40th, 41st, 42nd and 43rd HGP signings in club history. FC Dallas leads MLS in Homegrown signings with 43 players.

Garcia signed with North Texas ahead of the 2023 MLS NEXT Pro season. In 2024, he had eight goals and four assists for NTSC. He set a club record as the youngest player to reach 50 appearances (18 years, 4 days). García has earned several U.S. youth national team call-ups, with his most recent coming in November 2024.

Ramirez set career highs with North Texas SC, scoring four goals and registering three assists. He scored the game-winning goal in the 105th minute of overtime against St. Louis CITY2 to propel North Texas to the MLS NEXT Pro Cup final. Ramirez made his North Texas debut on March 26, 2023, and his FC Dallas debut against the New England Revolution on July 20, 2024.

Collodi earned MLS NEXT Pro Goalkeeper of the Year honors in 2024. With North Texas, Collodi made 27 appearances, registering 17 wins, 90 saves, and five clean sheets (all club season highs). He placed second in the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro Goalie Wars during All-Star Weekend in Columbus, Ohio. Collodi led North Texas SC to its first MLS NEXT Pro championship.

Molina made 12 appearances for North Texas SC and scored his first professional goals against Sporting Kansas City II on May 5, 2024. He made his professional debut on April 16, 2023, against Minnesota United FC2 in the 46th minute and started his first professional match the following game against Real Monarchs II on April 21.

The Miami native joined the FC Dallas Academy in 2017 and signed his first professional contract with North Texas SC in August 2023. He was selected for the 2022 MLS NEXT All-Star Game. Molina represented Jamaica’s U-20 team in January 2024 and also featured for Jamaica in the 2023 Concacaf U-17 Championship in Guatemala.

Baran made his professional debut with North Texas SC on April 6, 2024, against The Town FC, playing 75 minutes. Since then, Baran has appeared in 14 matches. He signed his first professional contract with North Texas SC in September 2024. The Chicago native joined the FC Dallas Academy in September 2023. Baran participated in Liga MX International 2023 and was part of the FCD U-19 squad that finished second in the 2024 Dallas Cup Gordon Jago Super Group final.

Pepi made 10 appearances for North Texas SC in 2024. He made his professional debut as a substitute against LAFC2 on March 26, 2023, and scored his first career goal against St. Louis CITY2 on May 28, 2023.

Pepi joined the FC Dallas Youth ECNL '04 team for the 2021 season. In 2023, he featured for the FC Dallas Academy and scored two goals in the Dallas Cup U-19 Super Group against Real Madrid CF and Monterrey.

BDS Take

The Ramirez and Garcia signings were expected, that much we can say to start here. FC Dallas sporting director Andre Zanotta said at the end of the 2024 season that both Garcia and Ramirez would be with the first team in 2025. Collodi was also a likely expected signing as well going into the offseason.

Garcia had a great preseason with the first team and arguably the best player on the NTSC roster in 2024 during their title run.

Seeing that they were able to sign him as a HGP is even more impressive since the brought him in from El Paso Locomotives back in 2023. He managed to earn enough minutes in the academy outside of his time with NTSC to be eligable for a HGP deal.

Ramirez signed with NTSC before the 2024 season on what was deemed a hybrid deal with FC Dallas. This move today likely is how those deals will work going forward (a year fully with NTSC and then a HGP deal with FCD prodivded things go well). He is a very versatile player, who can play as an attacking midfielder, a linking midfielder, or even a winger.

Collodi played for the FC Dallas Academy prior to his dive seasons at Columbia University, which made him Homegrown eligible. He was fantastic with NTSC in 2024. There is a good chance he could actually end up as the main backup keeper this season behind Maarten Paes with Antonio Carerra earning more starting minutes with NTSC.

All three players were on the list of who I thought could move up to the first team from North Texas SC, along with fellow FCD newcomer Pedrinho.

The other three on the list were a bit of a surprise and are likely some form of investing in the future. I've heard rumblings that there are some Mexican clubs looking at Pepi, while Molina and Baran appear to be guys that will likely spend most of 2025 with NTSC.