As we head into a dead period of Major League Soccer with the arrival of the World Cup break, it\u2019s worth looking into the future to see how the roster may look in the future. Orlando City has one player out of contract after the 2026 season and several that are on the last guaranteed year of their deal but have option years the club could exercise. Let\u2019s take a look at the decisions Orlando City has to make at season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n
Ivan Angulo \u2014 Attacking Midfielder<\/p>\n
The Colombian midfielder has been a tireless worker and a good soldier for Orlando City since his arrival in July of 2022. Regardless of what you think of his finishing (and it hasn\u2019t been good the last two years after back-to-back seasons with five goals in 2023 and 2024 and 15 total goal contributions in the latter of those years) or those games in which he turns the ball over repeatedly, Angulo has generally been an asset to the team. What he lacks in goal production he makes up for in important hustle plays to break up opposition attacks and with his high pressure. <\/p>\n
Angulo is out of contract after the 2026 season after signing through the 2025 season in January of 2024. Orlando City exercised his option year for 2026 last November. He could leave on a free transfer and there will be clubs interested in the 27-year-old, who will likely be one of the fastest players in whatever league he\u2019s in for the next several seasons. At a total guaranteed compensation of $582,656, he\u2019s not terribly expensive for a starting-caliber winger. Orlando City should re-sign Angulo or upgrade the position, and perhaps the club wants Tyrese Spicer to show he can take that spot. Spicer has been inconsistent as a starter but generally better off the bench. He hasn\u2019t yet shown himself to be an everyday option.<\/p>\n
Wilder Cartagena \u2014 Midfielder<\/p>\n
The Peruvian midfield stopper has, like Angulo, been a solid performer for the Lions since signing with Orlando City in August of 2022. Last season\u2019s Achilles injury derailed the club\u2019s best-ever midfield double pivot, as Cartagena and Cesar Araujo combined to make life miserable for Orlando\u2019s opponents and did a great job of shielding the back line. He even filled in admirably on the back line whenever Oscar Pareja went to five at the back as an extra center back. Cartagena suffered another injury in the 2026 season opener and is just getting back up to speed, but it seems as if he\u2019s having difficulty breaking through to get enough minutes to round back into form.<\/p>\n
Cartagena is on a contract through the end of 2026, which he signed last November, but there is an option year on his deal. At 31 years old and making a guaranteed $530,250 per year, it may be time to move on from the veteran defensive midfielder unless he can regain his form before the end of the season. The hope is that Luis Otavio can develop into a similar midfield stopper and the club has invested in the Brazilian. The Lions also seem more interested in the kind of offense that favors more attack-minded players in the central midfield, which has proven successful in scoring goals so far this year but has failed miserably at preventing them.<\/p>\n
Joran Gerbet \u2014 Midfielder<\/p>\n
The French-born product out of Clemson University signed in February 2025 after being drafted in the first round (No. 27 overall) in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft. He had a promising rookie campaign going until sustaining a serious knee injury last October against Columbus and had season-ending surgery. Gerbet will likely be able to return to game action after the World Cup break, and perhaps he could even play some games with OCB during the pause.<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll be out of contract at the end of 2026 but there are options for 2027 and 2028 on his rookie deal. If he can return to full speed and produce, the club would likely bring him back. With total guaranteed compensation of $113,400, Gerbet is an inexpensive piece of the roster, and he\u2019ll be eager to earn a new deal. Plus, he\u2019ll have at least one new French-speaking teammate as soon as Antoine Griezmann arrives. Gerbet\u2019s return could mitigate the loss of Cartagena if the club parts ways with the Peruvian international.<\/p>\n
Adrian Marin \u2014 Defender<\/p>\n
The Spaniard arrived in August of 2025 on a deal through this season with a club option for 2027. He wasn\u2019t able to quite jell or acclimate well to Major League Soccer over the course of last season. He entered 2026 looking to lock down the starting left back spot and can play as a center back in a three-man back line, but so far this season he\u2019s been inconsistent at best. While he can send the occasional excellent cross or long ball in to create a scoring chance, contributing three assists already this season, he\u2019s not been quite able to consistently operate at an MLS level.<\/p>\n
A good left back can be pricey, so his guaranteed pay of $577,972 isn\u2019t terrible, but he\u2019s not quite lived up to it either. It will be interesting to see if Marin can finish out the 2026 campaign strong and if it\u2019s enough to warrant picking up his contract option or offering him a new deal.<\/p>\n
Nolan Miller \u2014 Defender<\/p>\n
The rookie out of Michigan had a strong start to his first professional year but then showed some growing pains. He signed through the 2026 season back in early February but the club holds options for Miller for the 2027 sprint season, 2027-2028, and 2028-2029. Miller most recently played with Orlando City B on Sunday, helping the Young Lions defeat Inter Miami CF II 4-1 at home. There\u2019s a lot of season left for Miller to make his mark, and playing with OCB during the World Cup break is a good way to get him minutes in a developmental setting.<\/p>\n
All indications from the club are that the technical staff believe Miller has enough upside to potentially become an MLS starter. The 22-year-old will be given an opportunity to develop, and it seems likely Orlando City will exercise his option unless the player asks for his release to pursue other opportunities.<\/p>\n
Javier Otero \u2014 Goalkeeper<\/p>\n
If there\u2019s one thing that\u2019s been clear for years, it\u2019s that Orlando City likes to have one primary goalkeeper and a young, inexpensive backup who plays only sparingly, whether it\u2019s Mason Stajduhar, Adam Grinwis, or Otero. The Lions signed Otero to a new contract through 2026 just a year ago in May 2025, with option years for 2027 and 2028. Otero has played well at times and gotten shelled a few times in his MLS career, but he\u2019s filled his role well and is inexpensive at $163,750 in guaranteed annual compensation. Orlando will likely exercise the option on Otero\u2019s deal unless the 23-year-old Venezuelan wants to go elsewhere. <\/p>\n
Nicolas Rodriguez \u2014 Attacking Midfield<\/p>\n
While not technically out of contract, the club may have to do something with Rodriguez, who is currently on loan with Atletico Nacional in Colombia through 2026. The Colombian side has an option to purchase, but it\u2019s unclear whether that will be exercised. The former MLS U22 Initiative signing was suspended in March for an alleged sexual assault earlier this year \u2014 charges that Rodriguez denies. He returned to the pitch in May in a loss to Once Caldas.<\/p>\n
With the commitment Orlando City made to Otavio, Iago, and Tiago, it\u2019s unlikely the club will bring back Rodriguez unless one of the Brazilians is sold. Rodriguez struggled to get on the pitch with the first team last year, and Tiago seems light years ahead of the Colombian in his development. It seems likely the club will hope Nacional purchases Rodriguez, and if not, the Lions will probably try to sell him or loan him out again. Rodriguez\u2019s contract expires at the end of 2027.<\/p>\n
Zakaria Taifi \u2014 Fullback\/Midfielder<\/p>\n
Homegrown defender\/winger Taifi is signed through 2026 with club options for 2027, 2028, and 2029. The 20-year-old has shown great promise and made the jump to the first team midway through 2025, although he played sparingly. Taifi already has career highs with the first team in 2026 in games played (10), starts (3), and assists (2). If not for Griffin Dorsey\u2019s play, Taifi might otherwise be seeing regular minutes, although there is work to be done in developing his defending. At present, he projects more as a wingback than a fullback, but the same was once true of Alex Freeman, who improved his one-on-one defending by leaps and bounds.<\/p>\n
As a Homegrown Player starting to bear fruit, it is a no-brainer for the club to pick up Taifi\u2019s option after the 2026 season. <\/p>\n
Yutaro Tsukada \u2014 Attacking Midfielder<\/p>\n
Orlando City selected Tsukada with the No. 25 overall pick in the first round of the 2024 MLS SuperDraft in December of 2023. The club signed Tsukada to an MLS NEXT Pro deal through 2024 and then signed him through 2025 with option years for 2026 and 2027, so he\u2019s currently in the first of those two option years. <\/p>\n
The young winger has shown some glimpses of quality in both dead-ball delivery and his crafty one-on-one moves out wide, but he\u2019s not been able to break through just yet and he was left off both the senior team and OCB matchday rosters since April 26, despite a club spokesman telling me he wasn\u2019t injured. Tsukada\u2019s budget charge isn\u2019t big ($113,400), but at 24, he\u2019s entering his prime years and hasn\u2019t yet developed into an MLS player. Whether he\u2019s back next year may be up to the player in Tsukada\u2019s case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As we head into a dead period of Major League Soccer with the arrival of the World Cup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-290211","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\/290211","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=290211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}