We've entered the silly season in Frisco as MLS Cup is in the rear-view and teams are solely focused on improving the rosters for 2017.
FC Dallas has already made plenty of moves, adding two Homegrown players and today's first international signing of the winter window in Ecuadorian left back Anibal Chala. MLS free agency has also opened on Tuesday meaning a handful of players are free to negotiate their next destination and there are certainly some names on the MLS free agency list that would make sense for FCD!
Of course, not all of them could be signed, but perhaps one or two will make their way to Toyota Stadium.
Javier Morales - M - Real Salt Lake
Let's start with the obvious one.
Before Mauro Diaz, Nicolas Lodeiro and others, Javier Morales was the gold standard among attacking midfielders in MLS. The Argentine amassed 49 goals and 81 assists in nearly a decade at Real Salt Lake, but he is not returning to the Wasatch side. Turning 37 years old in a few weeks, Morales probably isn't quite up to the 34-game grind starting every game anymore, but for an FC Dallas team looking for a #10 to fill the role while Diaz recovers from his torn achilles...well you can't really find much better.
Dominic Oduro - F - Montreal Impact
In over a decade in the league, Oduro has amassed over 60 goals for 7 teams including FC Dallas and the Ghanaian has 14 goals just in the last two seasons. A pure speedster with solid finishing abilities, what a player Oduro would be as a change of pace to start a handful of games and bring off the bench in other games to run down defenses wilted by the Frisco head.
Oduro Tweeted that he would like to stay in Montreal, but he certainly wouldn't be a bad player to have at Toyota Stadium. Plus, he loves Papa John's and so do we!
Justin Mapp - M - Sporting KC
OK, I just put this one in for Multimedia Coordinator Chris Roland who is begging for FC Dallas to sign a player from Mississippi where he recently moved here from. Keep fighting that fight, Chris.
Marvell Wynne - D - San Jose
One of a handful of defenders I've ever seen run down Fabian Castillo, Wynne has been an MLS mainstay since going #1 overall in the 2006 Superdraft. Having appeared in at least 27 games over the last 7 seasons, Wynne would be a comparable player to Zach Loyd who was recently selected in the Expansion Draft by Atlanta United.
Very competent at both center back and outside back, FCD could do a lot worse than a player like Marvell Wynne as one of the top options to relieve Walker Zimmerman and Matt Hedges while competing for the outside back job from day one. With a player like Wynne, salary and cap space is always going to be a major factor as he wouldn't come cheap.
Marco Pappa - M - Colorado Rapids
Looking for someone to fill the Mauro Rosales role of 2016? Pappa would certainly be an interesting option. 2 goals and 4 assists in 895 minutes played isn't too bad of an output from a guy like Pappa who can produce moments of magic. Pappa has over 175 games of MLS experience overall and if he could be brought in at a reasonable salary, would be a nice piece.