{"id":209864,"date":"2026-03-28T19:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T19:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/209864\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T19:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T19:30:08","slug":"orlando-city-star-praises-new-teammate-and-blockbuster-trade-antoine-griezmann","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/209864\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando City Star Praises New Teammate and Blockbuster Trade Antoine Griezmann"},"content":{"rendered":"

Orlando City, who sit 13th in MLS\u2019s Eastern Conference with just a single win on the season, could not be more excited for the hot arrival of generational talent, signing Atl\u00e9tico Madrid star and 2018 World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Even the Lions\u2019 current stars are expressing their excitement, despite having to share the limelight once the French striker\u2019s contract commences this summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am really happy,\u201d Orlando City Designated Player Marco Pa\u0161ali\u0107 told reporters on Friday after helping Croatia to a 2\u20131 win over Colombia. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a nice experience [playing with Griezmann]. I mean, I played with the greatest Croatian and European player, Luka Modri\u0107, so it\u2019s going to be a nice period of my career to play with Griezmann, and I want to enjoy this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old Pa\u0161ali\u0107, who is currently vying for a spot on the Croatian roster at the World Cup this summer, provided an assist in the win. The winger will likely operate next to Griezmann<\/a> as the duo seek to revitalize Orlando City\u2019s offense. The Lions\u2019 scored just five goals in the first five matches … and conceded 17.<\/p>\n

What Does Griezmann\u2019s Signing Mean for Orlando City\u2019s Current Star Players?\"Pasalic\"<\/p>\n

Marco Pa\u0161ali\u0107 is one of three Designated Players for Orlando City. | Mark Thorstenson – Orlando City\/MLS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Griezmann, 35, signed a contract through the 2027\u20132028 season\u2014during which he will be 37 years old\u2014with an option for 2028\u201329. <\/p>\n

He was announced as Orlando City\u2019s newest Designated Player<\/a>, meaning his \u201ctotal compensation and acquisition costs exceed the Maximum Salary Budget Charge,\u201d according to MLS. For Griezmann, that means his compensation will exceed a budget charge of $401,562.50, given he is joining the club in the secondary transfer window.<\/p>\n

Each MLS club is allotted a maximum of three Designated Player spots on its roster, and the Lions already hold three, including Pa\u0161ali\u0107, who was acquired in Feb. 2025 and is contracted through 2027. The other two Designated Players are Argentine star midfielder Mart\u00edn Ojeda, who signed a contract extension in January through the 2028\u201329 season, and Paraguayan midfielder Braian Ojeda, who was acquired in January and is on contract through the 2028\u201329 season.<\/p>\n

One of the Lions\u2019 three Designated Players will, thus, have his salary \u201cbought down\u201d using Targeted Allocation Money. He could also be traded or loaned out to make room for Griezmann. According to MLS<\/a>, the Lions\u2019 player losing the DP designation will be Braian Ojeda; however, it is unclear what exactly the club plans to do with the midfielder.<\/p>\n

READ THE LATEST TRANSFER NEWS AND RUMORS FROM WORLD SOCCER<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orlando City, who sit 13th in MLS\u2019s Eastern Conference with just a single win on the season, could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-209864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}