Luiz Muzzi is set to take over as FC Dallas vice president of soccer operations with technical director Fernando Clavijo taking a leave of absence as he recovers from cancer treatment.

Muzzi, 49, has been with the club as the assistant technical director since Dec. 2012 and said little will change even as he moves into a bigger role.

"It's a continuation. There's not something new, something different, nothing real like that," he said. "Every time you've seen something in the past six years we've been here that's something where Fernando did, it's Fernando and Luiz, every time you see something Luiz, it's Fernando and Luiz.

"Even the small things that you can say, 'That's something Luiz did.' No. It's always been Fernando and Luiz and the same for the signings and all that. I don't think there's a big change other than we're really, really, really going to miss having Fernando in the day to day for everything that he is."

Muzzi stressed that he isn't at all a replacement for Clavijo and will still lean on the veteran technical director's counsel when making decisions.

"I'm not taking over for Fernando, never will. Ever. Fernando is unique and does so many things and is such a great person, forget technical director. He's a great technical director, but person," Muzzi said. "I'll continue doing the things we've been doing together and hopefully I'm going to still have a lot of contact with him and he'll be doing things like we're used to on a smaller scale because he needs to concentrate on his health and that's what we all want - for him to be 100 percent."

Dan Hunt, FC Dallas president, said Muzzi has been an asset to the club while Clavijo has battled health issues. Muzzi, who was born in Brazil and speaks five languages, was heavily involved in this summer's deal to acquire Pablo Aranguiz and with the trade to send Kellyn Acosta to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for forward Dominique Badji and other considerations.

"I think they've built a fabulous roster. I think our midseason was a really good midseason for the club, I would argue it's been the best midseason we've ever had and a lot of credit goes to Luiz Muzzi on that," Hunt said. "Fernando is going to take a leave while he continues to work through some of his health issues. It's no secret he's been battling cancer and he went on a pretty radical treatment plan in Houston. Things are really going well for him, and he'll always be a phone call away"

Muzzi was rarely seen around the FCD training complex without Clavijo by his side, but there are differences between the two men. For one, he's more reserved than the gregarious Clavijo, but Hunt said that doesn't mean he lacks an edge when it comes to player acquisitions.

"He's a fabulous negotiator, like Fernando," Hunt said. "The styles are a little bit different in how they negotiate. What's very unique about Luiz, and you see it a lot, there's a lot of grey in sports because we all interpret players differently. That's the beauty of the game ... but Luiz is I think very black and white in his decision-making process, whether a player is good enough or not good enough for us and he's very black and white in his negotiations and what we can do and what we can't do.:

Muzzi also brings more of a bookish side, possessing a deep understanding of MLS' often complex roster rules and regulations. Ultimately, he has the same goal as everyone else in the FCD front office - to deliver the first-ever MLS Cup to the trophy case while adding other titles along the way.

"I'm a different person, sure. He's much more open and all that. I think I'm a little more methodical and follow the inside the box. I think outside the box too, but not like Fernando," Muzzi said. "I think the only thing I can say is that we're going to continue the work that has been done and try to get titles. We need titles."

Twitter: @ArnoldcommaJon