FC Dallas acquire Santi Moreno on loan from Fluminese
As has been reported by Tom Bogert and others, FC Dallas today officially announced the loan deal for Fluminese forward Santi Moreno. Moreno will be with Dallas through the end of the calendar year, occupying a Designated Player spot. Here's part of FC Dallas' official announcement they sent out this morning:
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).
“We are excited to bring Santi Moreno to FC Dallas,” FC Dallas President Dan Hunt said. “He has consistently delivered goals and assists in MLS. We believe he is a strong fit for our group and an important addition as we continue to build our attack for the rest of the season.”
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I was fully on board with this move...until they announced it was for the additional DP slot.
Before it was assumed he'd take up a TAM slot, filling the void that someone like Paxton Pomykal or Sebastian Lletget left. Instead Dallas has now used their second and only remaining DP slot on someone who's never scored more than 7 goals in a single MLS season.
In fact last year Petar Musa, Dallas' other DP, had almost as many goals across the entirety of the MLS regular and post season (19) that Moreno had in 131 games with Portland (20). Moreno has only played eight games since Portland transferred him to Fluminese, with one assist in those games.
Trying to parse this from a FC Dallas front office standpoint, they must feel two ways. One: the loss of Anderson Julio for the forseeable future is much bigger than just about anyone perceives. Admittedly it does create an awkward spot in the depth chart, less so when Dallas plays one striker in their formation as Musa/Farrington can cover each other. The offense does seem to work best when they're playing together, so the striker depth sans Julio isn't ideal.
Two: That Moreno is a hidden gem the rest of the league has ignored. His exit from Portland last year was messy, and Fluminese took advantage using their Club World Cup war chest to bring in the Colombian. While he hasn't lit up Brazil, he also hasn't had that much playing time. In theory MLS could be Moreno's level, and bringing him back could unlock his potential.
Which could happen. Maybe Moreno shows up and lights Frisco on fire as another playmaking striker; he did have 10 assists in 2024 with the Timbers. Just spitballing but I think Dallas' ideal usage of Moreno would be playing him next to Musa and Joaquin Valiente in the 3-4-3 alignment we've seen as of late. They could also play all three stikers at once, or rotate two of them in with Valiente behind them. Moreno's style does give Quill options on how he can deploy his formation.
The problem comes back to the DP designation.
Dallas may well have cast their die on this move as making or breaking their 2026. They've removed the possibility of acquiring any other DP player without moving another one, which at this point would presumably be Musa post World Cup. Instead of using this spot on another center back, a bona fide 10, or really anyone else they've placed their fate in the hands of a career MLS under performer. As a supporter you have all right to feel disappointed by that.
I'm often not one to harp on a club's ambition, because it's often used as a criticism crutch. In this specific instance however I can't say the club made an ambitious enough decision based on the information we have in front of us. Hopefully Moreno proves everyone wrong, turning into an offensive dynamo that propels Dallas to the next level they've been seeking.
Should this not work as Dallas intends, it'll be a huge talking point come season's end. Andre Zanotta has pushed his chips in on Moreno, and whether he hits blackjack or busts will affect not just his reputation but the whole of the 2026 FC Dallas campaign.
For all our sakes, I hope Moreno is exactly what this squad needs. I'd love nothing more than in eight months or so to be saying how wrong I was about this transaction. Because that would mean Moreno was the cat's pajamas, tearing up MLS and leading Dallas to that next level they seek. That'd be more fun than being right, even as fun as being right often is.
