Report: FC Dallas in talks with former Napoli left back Mario Rui

As the 2025 regular season is quickly approaching, the one thing remains clear for FC Dallas fans, the defensive depth is still lacking.

Hopefully, that will be changing in the coming days with an expected signing set to happen this week. Until then, Fabrizio Ramano has a nice nugget of a report for fans to get ahold of on Wednesday. Romano is reporting that FC Dallas has been in talks with former Napoli left back Mario Rui.

The Portugeese defender became a free agent at the end of 2024, as he left the Italian club after some issues.

The 33-year-old spent most of his career in Italy, making 248 appearances in Serie A for Empoli, Roma, and Napoli. He won the 2022–23 Serie A title with Napoli and the 2019–20 Coppa Italia.

Quick Take

Rui would be an interesting addition to a defensive group that does need some additional depth on the left side, especially behind incumbent starting left back Marco Farfan.

He fits the mold that the club is looking for in terms of players who have won a title somewhere along the way in their career. Getting him as a free transfer would also be a nice thing, as the European transfer market has already closed as of last week.

He could be an "Illarramendi-type" leadership signing by the club, too. Maybe not the TAM-level signing we've been hoping for, but possibly a decent depth piece. I'm not sure how I feel about getting a guy later in his career though at a position like left back.

UPDATED:

Sounds like this one isn’t worth spending any more time with: