Since the Schellas Hyndman era of FC Dallas, the club has had a core philosophy centered on Homegrowns and young'ish foreign talent, usually South Americans. The idea is to buy/sign young talent and develop them rather than going after higher priced, prime of their career veterans.

While the foreign signings FC Dallas has landed aren't usually as young as the Homegrowns the idea is the same; grow the players to contribute to the first team to either help the club compete in MLS or perhaps to be sold on. This isn't exactly a unique model worldwide, but it's not common in MLS.

In the aftermath of the Luchi Gonzalez press conference, in which Gonzalez spoke of a balance between youth and vets, developing and buying, I asked FC Dallas owner Clark Hunt if my identification of this FC Dallas philosophy was a fair assessment over the last few years.

"That's exactly right," Hunt said. "We focused on those young emerging payer from South America and hit on some notable successes, Mauro Diaz probably being the best example of that, and going forward that's going to remain our philosophy."

Mauro Diaz, FC Dallas (FC Dallas / FCD Communications)

So as Hunt says, this philosophy continues with the club today and will continue in the future. For example, Michael Barrios signed with FCD at 23 and Mauro Diaz at 22. Both have been massive parts of the team the last few years. Last season the signings of Santiago Mosquera at 23 and Pablo Aranguiz at 21 continued this trend.

From the Academy players like Kellyn Acosta, Victor Ulloa, and Jesse Gonzalez all became big parts of the squad (2 of the 3 have been traded for TAM/GAM). Perhaps Paxton Pomykal, Brandon Servania, and Jesus Ferreira are on the verge of the same step into the first team.

This core philosophy, for the most part, is how FC Dallas does business. Buy and sign young, develop and use, eventually (perhaps) selling/trading the player on.

But in the current state of MLS, that may no longer be enough to keep FC Dallas at the top of the table and in the mix competing for Supporters Shields and MLS Cups. This is, after all, the era of Atlanta United.

"I think Atlanta has taken that philosophy and taken it to another level," Clark Hunt continued. "They were very impressive throughout the league, of course, in winning the championship."

While FC Dallas spent a reported $1.2 mil on Aranguiz and $1.7 mil on Mosquera, Atlanta United spent $14 mil on 18-year-old Ezequiel Barco, $8 mil on the 24-year-old Miguel Almiron, and just over $5 mil on 24-year-old Josef Martinez. Clearly, the Five Stripes have changed the game as that's a different level of spending, one Clark Hunt says FC Dallas will need to react to.

"Our job now is to take the philosophy, that we really developed, and see if we can take that to a higher level to see if we can compete with Atlanta," Hunt concluded.

Honduras' Bryan Acosta (L) vies for the ball with Chile's Alexis Sanchez during a friendly football match at the German Becker stadium, in Temuco, Chile, on November 20, 2018. (Photo by Pablo VERA / AFP)PABLO VERA/AFP/Getty Images (PABLO VERA / Getty Images)

That's a tall order and a money neighborhood the Hunts haven't worked in before.

Perhaps the first signs of this "higher level" may be seen in the reports of current FC Dallas target, 25-year-old Honduran midfielder Bryan Acosta, being on the verge of moving to Frisco for a $5 mil. While we don't know the validity of that reported number yet, and some of that may be agent talk, it's still more rarefied air than the Hunts have dabbled in before.

Only time will tell what a "higher level" means for FC Dallas and the Hunt brothers.

Edit: new tweet report, $3 mil for Acosta.

Bryan Acosta es nuevo Jugador del Dallas FC , el traspaso ronda los 3 millones $ deja la Segunda división de España , por la MLS pic.twitter.com/3E2LL3ROvS — Jimy Manchamé (@JimyManchame) December 29, 2018