FC Dallas’ offseason of change is well underway. The club has already parted ways with nine players, announced a new head coach, and now signed three new players: Pedrinho from affiliate North Texas SC, Ramiro formerly of Cruzeiro in Brazil, and Lalas Abubakar—the longtime Colorado Rapids center back.
Let’s take a look at each player and how they could factor into the plans of new head coach Eric Quill in 2025.
Pedrinho
Pedrinho was the first official signing of the offseason. The Brazilian attacking midfielder is coming off a standout season with North Texas SC in their title-winning campaign. Still just 21, Pedrinho set a club record with 13 goals and 13 assists over the year, including four game-winning goals—one of which was the stoppage-time winner in the MLS NEXT Pro final.
Pedrinho earned his FCD contract with one of the best individual seasons in NTSC’s six-year history after joining from Flamengo in Brazil. He typically played as a forward-thinking midfielder but can deputize on either wing as well second striker. Since he’s still quite young with room to grow, there’s a good chance Pedrinho will be more of a depth piece in 2025 but his versatility should open the door to first team minutes. As an attacking midfielder/false winger, he’d fit in well as a second option behind Argentine DP Alan Velasco (who just signed a new long-term contract). A native of Brazil, Pedrinho will take up an international roster spot and his contract runs through 2025 with club options for 2026 and 2027.
Ramiro
Dallas’ second signing is veteran midfielder Ramiro, a free agent who spent the majority of his career in Brazil’s top division where he played over 400 games for Gremio, Corinthians and Cruzeiro. The 31-year-old can play centrally as either the defensive or attacking midfielder, or out wide as a right back or right winger. While with Gremio, Ramiro won the Copa do Brasil (their main open cup competition), the Copa Libertadores (basically South America’s Champions League) and finished runner-up in the FIFA Club World Cup (losing to Real Madrid in the final).
“Ramiro brings a lot of experience playing at the highest level in Brazil, facing the strongest competition in South America, and he's a proven winner,” said FCD’s Chief Soccer Officer André Zanotta, who worked with Ramiro previously at Gremio. “He has an amazing mentality, he has leadership. He's a great guy that will help the team on and off the field. We're extremely excited to have him because he will add all that experience and quality in the midfield.
“He’s played as a right back, right winger, #6, #8 and #10. He’s played in so many different positions and we know how important it is in MLS to have versatile players that can add quality in different positions based on the needs we have. That’s something that Ramiro brings to us.”
In terms of Ramiro’s fit, he’ll likely compete for a place in midfield with Show Cafumana, Nolan Norris, Sebastian Lletget and potentially Asier Illarramendi, who the club is still negotiating with after his contract expired following the 2024 season. Ramiro's versatility could prove useful if FCD needs to plug any gaps anywhere in central midfield or along the right flank. That positional flexibility should help him see the field plenty in 2025. His contract runs through 2026 with a club option for 2027.
Lalas Abubakar
The third and most recent signing is center back Lalas Abubakar, another free agent veteran who spent the last six seasons with the Colorado Rapids. Originally from Khumasi, Ghana, Abubakar attended the University of Dayton before being selected by the Columbus Crew in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. At age 29, Abubakar has accumulated 170 MLS appearances, scored 11 goals and averaged an 89% passing accuracy (top 92 percentile among MLS CBs).
“(Lalas Abubakar) is a very talented and aggressive player. His physicality and athleticism is something that always stood out for us,” Zanotta explained. “His ability in the air on defensive and especially attacking set pieces really stands out. It's great to have him with us right now.”
Abubakar’s positional outlook is more straightforward than the previous two additions, plus he also doesn’t require an international spot. He’ll compete for a starting place in central defense alongside Nkosi Tafari, Sebastien Ibeagha and any future center backs signings. Like Ramiro, Abubakar joins on a two-year contract with a club option for 2027.
“We need to add more depth in defense,” Zanotta said. “Center backs are something we said we were going to address and Lalas is one player that we really, really like having. And based on all the conversations and all the information we got, he's an amazing human being as well.”
