ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando City SC head coach Jason Kreis said the concern with his team has been about goal-scoring. It appears the Lions have addressed that issue with their most recent acquisition of forward Dom Dwyer from Sporting Kansas City. Early Tuesday afternoon, City officially announced the acquisition.
In exchange for Dwyer, SKC will receive $400,000 in general-allocation money and $500,000 in targeted-allocation money. Additionally, Kansas City will also have up to $700,000 in future allocation money based on player performance.
“Our group has worked hard to find potential additions to the club, and we are thrilled to finalize this deal and add an important piece to roster in Dom,” City CEO Alex Leitão said, per the club’s press release. “Dom is a fantastic player who recently gave us a glimpse of what he is capable of with the [United States] men’s national team and will keep doing so with the club and at the [Major League Soccer] All-Star Game next week.”
Dwyer has been a consistent goal-scorer throughout his MLS career with Kansas City. In regular starting minutes from 2014 to 2016, Dwyer has scored 50 goals with a career-high 22 goals in 2014. He has also notched a career nine assists with a career-high of three coming in 2016.
The recently made U.S. citizen also performed admirably for the USMNT. He became just the 10th player in national-team history to score in each of his first two matches. Dwyer scored just 19 minutes into his national-team debut on July 1 against Ghana and then again against Panama on July 8.
“Dom adds tremendous strength to our attack,” City general manage Niki Budalic said, per the release. “He brings speed, energy and strong technical ability. He has grown as a player of the years into one who is a threat whenever he’s on the field.”
This isn’t the time Dwyer has played for the club. He was a member of USL Pro side Orlando City when the organization was an MLS affiliate of Kansas City. After scoring 15 goals in 13 games in 2013, he was recalled to the MLS side before he returned to Orlando City to score four goals and earn himself an MVP honor in a 7-4, championship-game win.
Orlando City travels to face Atlanta United FC on Saturday after dropping the two teams’ first-ever meeting 1-0 on July 21.
For more on Orlando City and how the addition of Dwyer will affect the team’s goal-scoring, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
