FRISCO - FC Dallas has made their second addition of the summer transfer window, bringing in attacking midfielder Pablo Aránguiz from Chile. Here are five things you should know about the newest member of the FCD family.
SCORER AND CREATOR
In just 13 league matches this spring, Aránguiz led Union Española with five assists and was second on the team with five goals to his name as well. In his young pro career, the midfielder has nine goals and nine assists in 45 matches, but seems to have found his stride in the last few months.
UP AND COMER
Having earned a full starting role during the 2016-17 Torneo Classura season, Aránguiz quickly earned the respect of his peers around Chile’s Primera Division. After just a year of full-time action, the midfielder was named the U-20 player of the year in Chile - an award voted on by the players themselves.
DEJA VU?
The No. 10 comes to Dallas from the same Chilean club that Mauro Diaz spent a year on loan with directly before FCD acquired the Argentine playmaker in 2013. At 21 years old, Dallas hopes that Aránguiz’s future with the club takes a similar path as the then-22-year-old Diaz they brought in from Union Española just over five years ago.
EL PRINCIPITO
Aránguiz shares a famous last name in the Chilean soccer world. Eight years Pablo’s elder, midfielder Charles Aránguiz is entering his fourth season with Bundesliga’s Bayer Leverkusen and has 65 caps with the Chilean National Team. The two aren’t related by blood, but are linked in another way. Charles has long held the nickname El Principe (the prince), so naturally as Pablo’s career took off, he was dubbed El Principito (the little prince) in his native Chile because of his resemblance physically and in style of play.
HOT COMMODITY
This is not the first time the midfielder has been linked with an MLS club. In January, Aránguiz was reportedly linked with expansion-side LAFC for somewhere in the neighborhood of a $1.5 million transfer fee.