With the winter transfer window opening in MLS, clubs have begun signing players for the upcoming 2020 season.

This weekly column will be covering all the outgoing and incoming transfers and rumors that concern FC Dallas.

Outgoing

CONFIRMED: Jacori Hayes to Minnesota United

On Tuesday, FC Dallas announced that they had traded midfielder Jacori Hayes to Minnesota United in exchange for a 3rd round SuperDraft pick in 2021, potentially rising to a 2nd round pick if certain performance metrics are hit, along with an additional $100,000 in TAM if those metrics are hit.

Hayes had struggled to find consistent playing time with Dallas since he was drafted in 2017, spending time in his rookie season with the Tulsa Roughnecks (now FC Tulsa) in the USL Championship. He had a break out first half of the 2018 season, playing regularly and looking like someone who could contribute for years to come, but after other players came back from injury mid-season, Hayes’ playing time and level dropped. In 2019, Hayes was largely a backup, although he made 19 appearances, the most in any MLS season to his career thus far, most of those were off the bench and he was never able to reach the level he showed in the first part of 2018.

The signing of Thiago Santos was the final piece that likely led to Hayes’ trade. Under Luchi Gonzalez, Hayes was largely used as an 8, meaning that he would likely enter 2020 as the third piece on the depth chart behind Bryan Acosta and Brandon Servania, meaning that a lot of playing time was not in store for Hayes. Minnesota, on the other hand, is a team that desperately needs depth in central midfield behind the aging Ozzie Alonso and Robin Lod, who will miss a chunk of the season playing with Finland at the Euros this summer.

For Dallas, only getting a 3rd round pick seems like Minnesota got away with a bit of highway robbery, but it seems likely that the previously mentioned performance metrics are set at a relatively low bar. Although fans may be left wanting more for a former first-round pick, this feels like a win for all three parties, Dallas sheds some salary and clears a path for younger homegrown players to get more time, Minnesota gets some much-needed quality midfield depth and Hayes gets an opportunity to get significantly more playing time and prove that he is good enough to be a regular in MLS.

CONFIRMED: Cristian Colmán to Barcelona SC

This was all but confirmed in last week’s column but following last week’s column, Ecuadorian giants Barcelona SC made the transfer of Cristian Colmán official. Colmán is, of course, no longer an FC Dallas player, but there is a continued interesting wrinkle herein that the deal is being reported as a season-long loan from FC Dallas with a purchase option. This is likely down to MLS roster quirks with Colmán still being contracted to MLS in some way. Either way, Colmán has found his new club for 2020 and, hopefully, beyond.

RUMOR: Reggie Cannon moving abroad

💬 "Right now my focus is on Dallas and securing my spot on the national team." Watch @ReggieCannon15 address the media in Bradenton while away at @USMNT camp. pic.twitter.com/yIu1y4RaKT — FC Dallas (@FCDallas) January 19, 2020

This rumor is going to be ongoing until Reggie makes his seemingly inevitable move overseas. There’s been a surprising lack of concrete news about specific interest in Reggie, with most sources simply calling out generic interest from clubs in Europe. Reggie is not currently with FC Dallas in the preseason training camp as he is with the USMNT for the January camp. If anything happens in this window with Reggie, it will happen very soon and very suddenly as the European transfer window closes at the end of January. It seems far more likely that Reggie will make his move during the summer before his contract expires at the end of the 2020 season.

Incoming

CONFIRMED: Franco Jara from Pachuca

🇦🇷 𝐕𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐒 🇦🇷 We're excited to announce we've signed @FrancoJara1988 to a pre-contract, who will join the club in the summer! 𝘽𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙙𝙤𝙨 𝙁𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙤! #DTIDhttps://t.co/jXNRRQtXW2 — FC Dallas (@FCDallas) January 21, 2020

On the back of announcing the trade of Jacori Hayes on Tuesday, the long-rumored signing of Franco Jara from Pachuca was made official on Tuesday during Dan Hunt and Luchi Gonzalez’s season-opening press conference. The 31 year old Argentinean striker is set to join Dallas at the start of the MLS secondary transfer window on July 1st, which is also when his contract with Pachuca expires, allowing Dallas to acquire Jara on a free transfer. The contract details, as usual, have yet to be disclosed but Hunt did say during the press conference that Jara’s was the “largest contract in FC Dallas history” and Luchi Gonzalez mentioned that the club was still in negotiation with Pachuca to try to get Jara up to Frisco sooner than this summer.

For Dallas fans, the signing of Jara is long time coming, as fans have been crying out for a proven, experienced goal scorer ever since Blas Perez left the club after the 2015 season. It remains to be seen exactly when Jara will join the team and if he can carry his goal-scoring exploits in Liga MX over to MLS.

For more in-depth analysis of Jara and what the signing means for FC Dallas, check out FC Dallas Nation contributor Ismael Belkoura’s article.

How do you feel about this week’s moves in the transfer market? Do you think Jara will be a good fit with the club?

Will FCD manage to get him here earlier than July? Was the return for Jacori Hayes enough?

Featured Image: Kyle Terada/USA Today Sports