It was announced on Tuesday that Orlando City has acquired striker Dom Dwyer from Sporting Kansas City. The U.S Men’s National Team forward has scored 5 goals in 15 games so far this season for Sporting Kansas City, and made his debut for the U.S Men’s National Team against Ghana in a friendly just before the start of the Gold Cup.
“It’s massive,” Orlando City CEO Alex Leitao said in an announcement through Facebook Live. “I think he is the right guy. If I could pick one player to bring at this moment to our organization, that player would be Dom. This is a player that the entire organization wants-- Jason wants him, Niki wants him, Flavio-- the ownership, our guys here-- it’s big.”
Acquiring Dwyer from Kansas City wasn’t easy. Leitao said it was one of the most exhaustive experiences of his career-- a sign of the worth and competition for Dwyer.
“It was a very, very exhaustive process to get Dom Dwyer,” Leitao said. “We’ve been in conversation for about a month, back and forth. I’ve been in deals in my life with soccer. I’ve been doing deals here in MLS-- I was part of the moment here when we acquired the franchise, but I’ll tell you. I’ve never ever faced anything more exhaustive than this one.”
Dwyer is a unique attacking player for the Lions. His numbers speak for themselves. He has scored 57 goals in 128 total matches for Sporting Kansas City since 2014. That’s the second highest total since 2014, behind only Bradley Wright-Phillips of the New York Red Bulls. He’s scored two goals in three caps with the U.S National Team, scoring in his first match against Ghana and in the opening game of the Gold Cup against Panama.
“I think this deal is not only big for the club, it’s big for the league,” Leitao said. “When clubs start doing deals with each other, it shows where the league is right now. For us, it’s massive. It’s a guy we always wanted. I mean, he’s the guy who can score whenever he wants. So, very excited to see him today and moving forward with the team.”
Dwyer will arrive in Orlando on Tuesday and will join training with the team this weekend. He could appear with the team as early as the road match on Saturday against Atlanta United. That match will kickoff on FOX and MLS Live at 4:30pm.
