FCD has traded away a club legend.
Talk about a new era for FC Dallas.
FC Dallas has acquired left back Marco Farfan from Los Angeles FC in exchange for defender Ryan Hollingshead, the club announced today.
The 23-year old joins FC Dallas after spending one season with LAFC, where he appeared in a career-high 29 matches for the club, including 21 starts. Farfan was traded to Los Angeles FC in exchange for $300,000 in GAM from Portland. He started his professional career with the Portland Timbers after signing as the club’s first Homegrown player on Oct. 14, 2016. He played 34 regular season matches across three seasons for the Timbers.
Farfan was part of the 2020 Portland Timbers team to win the 2020 MLS is Back Tournament in Orlando, Fla. He’s been called up to various U.S. National Team camps, including the U.S. Men’s National Team camp in December 2020. He made his senior team debut in the 6-0 win against El Salvador on Dec. 9.
Hollingshead leaves FC Dallas after 222 appearances for the club across all competitions, accumulating 20 goals and 12 assists throughout eight seasons. The 2017 MLS Works Humanitarian of the Year joined FC Dallas in 2014 and was part of the team that won both the 2016 MLS Supporters’ Shield and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Our Quick Take
You read that correctly, the club has sent away a legend with the team for a younger left back that could be an upgrade on the field but certainly one that will not be an upgrade right away to fans off the field.
Farfan has good defensive numbers for this time in LA but he has nearly no offensive numbers when you compare him to Hollingshead.
If anything, this may be a simple salary cap move for the club. Hollingshead was earning $346,500 in 2021, whereas Farfan came in much lower at $190,000. This could easily be a move that also opens up the change for another bigger roster addition (the team does have some U22 slots available to use here, so this may be helping set up something like that).
The other side of it could also be that Hollingshead wanted to go back to California where he grew up, went to school and even started a church the year he was drafted by FC Dallas.
At the end of the day, this will not be a favorable move with most of the fans. Hollingshead wasn’t just an impressive player on the field for the club over the years but he was easily one of the most likable guys off the field that always took time with fans and media.