Orlando City SC’s midfield continues to be flooded with new players, as the Lions signed another midfielder Tuesday afternoon.
According to a team press release, City signed midfielder Oriol “Uri” Rosell, pending the reception of his ITC and P-1 Visa. The Lions, first, acquired the No. 1 position in the Major League Soccer allocation ranking order from FC Dallas in exchange for $400,000 in targeted-allocation money to acquire Rosell.
“Uri brings many attributes to our midfield,” City general manager Niki Budalic said, per the release. “He is a proven MLS midfielder with great vision and outstanding passing abilities to contribute offensively and defensively to the team. We’re excited to have him join the team.”
Rosell, a Spain native, most recently was a part of Sporting Clube de Portugal of Liga NOS, Portugal’s first-division league, helping Sporting win the 2014-15 Portuguese Cup. He made 22 appearances with Sporting.
The 25-year-old has speant the last three seasons on loan with first-tier sides Vitória Sport Clube, Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses and Portimonense SC. In total, he’s made 39 appearances and scored a goal.
Rosell previously had a three-season stint in MLS, playing for Sporting Kansas City from 2012 to 2014. There, he started 39 of his 43 appearances, recording 2 goals and 2 assists. He was instrumental in the 2013 championship team, making 31 regular-season appearances and five playoff starts that season.
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Details on the allocation ranking list, per the release:
“The allocation process is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a player listed on the allocation ranking list. The list consists of select U.S. men’s national-team players, elite youth U.S. national-team players and former MLS players returning to MLS after joining a non-MLS club for a transfer fee greater than $500,00.”
For more on the Lions, as they continue executing their offseason plans, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
