FC Dallas has acquired forward Santiago Moreno on loan from Brazilian side Fluminense FC through the end of the 2026 MLS season, with a club option for a permanent transfer.
Moreno will occupy a Designated Player roster spot and holds a U.S. green card, meaning he will not occupy an international slot.
In order to ascend to the top of Major League Soccer’s waiver order and complete the Moreno transaction, Dallas traded $75,000 in 2026 General Allocation Money (GAM) and $50,000 in conditional GAM to the Philadelphia Union. The move is pending receipt of Moreno’s International Transfer Certificate (ITC).
Moreno joined Fluminense in Aug. 2025, where he made eight appearances and recorded one assist across all competitions. Prior to joining the Brazilian club, the forward spent four seasons with the Portland Timbers after signing in July 2021. With Portland, Moreno made 131 appearances, recording 20 goals and 40 assists. He set career highs in goals (seven) and appearances (34) in 2022. In 2025, Moreno scored a game-winning bicycle kick that was named AT&T Goal of the Matchday for Matchday 12.
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BDS Take
Well folks, there is your new Designated Player.
Yeah, I wasn’t anticipating that part either, I fully expected another TAM-level signing here with this loan. Not a DP.
Getting a player in like Moreno, with a green card already intact, is an added bonus. The club didn’t have to go out and acquire an international slot via a trade to make this deal happen, though they did have to go up in a Waiver Priority to get him, which is so MLS.
Still, with Anderson Julio out for an undetermined amount of time, this kind of move checks some of the boxes for the club. He’s a player familiar with MLS, the travel involved in the league, and won’t need a ton of acclimating time to get caught up here.
Based on his player radars from ASA, I think it is pretty clear to see why the club was interested in bringing in a guy like Moreno during this window. He should be a good counter weight to what Joaquin Valiente has already brought to the attack.
Moreno doesn’t come to Dallas without some cause for concern based on his exit from Portland a year ago. According to reports at the time, Moreno requested a transfer from the Portland Timbers, “citing a feeling of being under appreciated by the organization and frustration with the coaching staff as the main motivators.”
Now, you could easily point to Moreno’s comments about feeling under appreciated as valid and take his transfer request last summer at that and move on. Or, you could see it as a young player who could be a bit of a problem if things don’t go his way.
I kind of see both sides of the coin there with him, and I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt here.
Either way, this move does feel like a bit of an upgrade for the club. The sooner Moreno can get into Dallas, which should be any day now from what I am told, the better.
