For all intents and purposes, FC Dallas is moving on from Blas Perez and David Texeira. The two forwards were solid contributors, according to the club's technical director Fernando Clavijo. But they weren't productive enough.

"I think the goal now is to...try to find that player that can score 15, 20 goals, that can compete for the golden boot at the end of the year," Clavijo said. "And we don't have that. Scoring goals, putting balls away, will give us something we don't have -- the freedom to make a mistake with some of the younger players. We don't have that player.

"We need something. We need a proven goal scorer that can help us achieve those goals and give us a little bit of freedom to make some mistakes along the way."

So how does FC Dallas intend to go about landing that quality finisher? Clavijo said there is no striker in the club's youth academy ready to emerge ,and as a result FC Dallas is exploring potential trades within MLS. But Clavijo acknowledged it was "most likely" that the club's brass will go outside the organization to acquire the talented player it seeks.

"It's not about money," Clavijo said. "It's about the quality. I think the direction and the vision that we have done, that everybody is praising right now after the fact, is to find those players before everyone else does. It's not easy. It's not easy."

FC Dallas, which produced the fifth-highest total of goals during the regular season, has focused on finding undervalued assets after it was burned by the Denilson signing in 2007. Back then, the Brazilian midfielder was brought in with much fanfare and then proceeded to make little impact.

"If the opportunities come around and it is somebody that can prove to us they can score goals and be that player, I think that we may look into that," Clavijo said. "So we are open. We are open. But we're going to be intelligent in making those decisions."