HOUSTON (Aug. 11, 2026) \u2013 Houston Dynamo FC\u00a0acquired\u00a0veteran defender\u00a0Marcelo\u00a0Saracchi\u00a0on a full transfer from\u00a0the\u00a0Argentinian top-flight’s\u00a0CA Boca Juniors, both clubs announced today. The fullback is signed to a contract through\u00a0the 2028-29 season,\u00a0with Club options through 2030-31.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Marcelo is a balanced left back, capable of contributing to all phases of play, with considerable winning experience in top flights in Europe and South America,\u201d said Dynamo President of Soccer\u00a0Pat\u00a0Onstad.\u00a0\u201cHis work ethic, competitiveness and team-first mentality match the DNA of a Dynamo player. We are excited to welcome Marcelo and his family to Houston, as we continue to push for postseason success this year.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old\u00a0Uruguayan international\u00a0arrives in Houston with 12 goals and 25 assists in 272\u00a0career\u00a0appearances\u00a0across several top-flight leagues,\u00a0including LaLiga, the Bundesliga,the Turkish\u00a0S\u00fcper\u00a0Lig,\u00a0the Scottish Premiership and the Argentine Primera Divisi\u00f3n, as well as\u00a0prestigious competitions like\u00a0the Copa Libertadores, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.\u00a0Saracchi\u00a0has also proven\u00a0himself as a winner, lifting six trophies across his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Saracchi\u00a0most\u00a0recently completed a loan spell with\u00a0prestigious Scottish\u00a0club\u00a0Celtic F.C., joining the club in August 2025 from CA Boca Juniors and making 27 appearances in all competitions, while recording one goal and two assists. He registered his first assist for Celtic in just his second match and played a key role during the 2025-26 season, helping the club win their 56th\u00a0league title and the 2026 Scottish Cup. Additionally, the defender made four appearances for Celtic in the 2025-26 UEFA Europa League.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prior to his loan move,\u00a0Saracchi\u00a0totaled 52 appearances, four goals and five assists for Boca Juniors after joining the Argentinian giant in August 2023. He helped\u00a0lead\u00a0Boca\u00a0to\u00a0the 2023 Copa Libertadores final,\u00a0in which\u00a0he started, and to consecutive Copa Argentina semifinals in 2023 and 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Saracchi\u2019s\u00a0first\u00a0playing stints\u00a0in Europe\u00a0came with\u00a0RB Leipzig in Germany (2018-21), Galatasaray S.K. in\u00a0Turkey\u00a0on loan (2020-21) and Levante UD in Spain (2022-23).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
With RB Leipzig, he made 27 appearances in all competitions, while recording one goal and one assist. During his first season, Saracchi helped the German side finish third in the Bundesliga, securing qualification for the following season’s UEFA Champions League tournament.\u00a0During the\u00a02019-20\u00a0European\u00a0competition, the defender started\u00a0two group-stage\u00a0matches\u00a0helping Leipzig earn 2-2 draws against S.L. Benfica and Olympique Lyonnais as the team finished top of their respective group.\u00a0The Uruguayan also made five appearances in the 2018-19 UEFA Europa League. Saracchi then joined Galatasaray on a one-year loan, recording two goals and six assists in 44 appearances before moving to Levante, where he made\u00a035 appearances in all competitions and recorded one assist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Born in\u00a0Paysand\u00fa, Uruguay, Saracchi began his professional career with Danubio F.C. in his native country, making his professional debut in a 2015 in Copa Sudamericana match versus Universidad Cat\u00f3lica. He went on to total 57 appearances, three goals and eight assists over two years, before joining Club Atl\u00e9tico River Plate in September 2017. During his time with the Argentinian powerhouse,\u00a0Saracchi\u00a0made 30 appearances, recording one goal and two\u00a0assist, while helping the club win the\u00a02016-17 Copa Argentina, the 2017\u00a0SupercopaArgentina and\u00a0the\u00a02018 Copa Libertadores.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the international level,\u00a0Saracchi\u00a0has represented Uruguay at the U-17, U-20\u00a0and senior levels, most notably helping the U-20 squad win the 2017 South American Championship. He has earned 11 caps with the senior national team, with his most recent appearances coming in October 2025, featuring in two international friendlies versus Dominican Republic and Uzbekistan.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
TRANSACTION:\u00a0Houston Dynamo FC\u00a0acquired\u00a0defender Marcelo Saracchi on a full transfer from CA Boca Junior. The fullback is signed\u00a0to a contract through\u00a0the 2028-29 season,\u00a0with Club options through 2030-31.\u00a0<\/p>\n
MARCELO SARACCHI BIO:\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
NAME:\u00a0Marcelo\u00a0Saracchi\u00a0<\/p>\n
DATE OF BIRTH:\u00a0April 23, 1998 (28)\u00a0<\/p>\n
BIRTHPLACE:\u00a0Paysand\u00fa, Uruguay\u00a0<\/p>\n
PREVIOUS CLUB:\u00a0CA Boca Juniors\u00a0(Argentine Primera Divisi\u00f3n)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
FIFA NATIONALITY:\u00a0Uruguay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON (Aug. 11, 2026) \u2013 Houston Dynamo FC\u00a0acquired\u00a0veteran defender\u00a0Marcelo\u00a0Saracchi\u00a0on a full transfer from\u00a0the\u00a0Argentinian top-flight’s\u00a0CA Boca Juniors, both clubs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,844,845,58,57],"class_list":["post-403643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-dynamo-fc","tag-houston-dynamo-news","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}