Now that FC Dallas's offseason has officially begun, we’ll begin our annual player recaps starting with Asier Illarramendi.
The veteran wrapped up his first full season with the club after joining the team last August.
Stat breakdown
Illarramendi finished the season with two goals and five assists. He appeared in 25 matches, 22 of which were starts. For a central midfielder who was expected to be a bit more on the defensive side of things, Illarramendi does fairly well to contribute to the attack. Here is a good look at his shot map from the season:
Yeah, not bad.
Illarramendi finished the season with a 90% passing rate. He created 27 chances for the attack while being one of the top players for FC Dallas in terms of possession on the ball.
Defensively, he won two-thirds of his tackles in 2024. He also had 30 interceptions, 12 blocks and 157 recoveries.
Highlight
Man, February was a different time for FC Dallas. This touch, this shot. We were so hopeful after seeing something like that.
Will he be back in 2025?
The bigger question may actually be does he want to return in 2025? His contract is up after this year, so FC Dallas will need to come up with a new deal to retain him rather than exercising a contract option like they will for many other players this offseason.
Based on the MLSPA’s salary information, he had a base salary of $500k. So, he may not be a cheap re-signing if the club does bring him back.
Final thoughts
We know FC Dallas is much better when Illarramendi is healthy. The hard part is keeping him, a soon-to-be 35 year old healthy for more than 25 games in a season. My gut tells me we won’t see him start 25 games in a season. Part of that is due to age, the other part is due to his aggressive play (he earned eight yellow cards in 2024).
Still, I think if he wants to return for one more season, I think FC Dallas should absolutely sign him.
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