FC Dallas send message with Lucho Acosta blockbuster trade

The Lucho Acosta saga is finally over after months of drama and intrigue, and FC Dallas consider themselves the big winners.

“It’s an honor as a coach to get a chance to work with a player of his profile, stature. The mentality that this man possesses is one of a winning nature,” FCD head coach Eric Quill told reporters as he and chief soccer officer/sporting director André Zanotta announced their blockbuster acquisition on Wednesday afternoon at Toyota Stadium.

“I’m just excited of what he’s going to bring to our locker room, and what he’s going to bring to the fans of FC Dallas.”

In the latest instance of the league’s brand-new ‘cash-for-player’ trade mechanism, the 2023 Landon Donovan MLS MVP moves from FC Cincinnati in exchange for $5 million, up to $1 million in performance-based add-ons and a sell-on percentage of any future MLS cash trade.

The deal was long in the making, Zanetta noted, intensified by Acosta’s foundational place in Cincy and contentious falling-out with FCC’s leadership as well as strong interest from other suitors both in the league and overseas.

“We went back and forth with Cincinnati. Obviously we always respect the club’s position – he’s a big-time player for Cincinnati, and it’s never easy. We know we felt this this year; it’s never easy to let go players that have a significant history in your club,” said Zanotta in a nod to Dallas’ sweeping offseason roster overhaul that’s seen Alan Velasco, Jesús Ferreira and Paul Arriola all depart.

“We were competing with other MLS clubs, we were competing with teams from Argentina, Brazil, and in the end, he wanted to be here. So one thing that for him that’s key is he’s super competitive. We spoke with a lot of people, and he wants to win. And he wanted to see the mentality that we have here, that we are going to go for trophies, that we’re going to compete to win everything that we have this year … This is an acquisition that shows that we want to be winners.”

Acosta turned heads across MLS when he declared his desire to leave FCC immediately after their Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs campaign ended with an upset loss to New York…