WEIGHING THE OPTIONS
Now that Nico Estevez has been hired as Austin FC’s new manager, Sporting Director Rodolfo Borrell still has several decisions to make. There were eight key players with 2025 club options on their contracts. Three have already been re-signed by Austin: Defender Brendan Hines-Ike and forwards Jáder Obrian and Diego Rubio. We are still waiting for news of decisions on the remaining five: Forward Ethan Finlay, defender Matt Hedges, and midfielders Jhojan Valencia, Alex Ring, and Daniel Pereira. This article examines the ups and downs of each player’s case.
Image VIA: Austin FC
Ethan Finlay (Forward, Age 34, 2025 Option)
Ups: Finlay has demonstrated value in ways that are hard to quantify and there have been moments when he stepped up to produce when called upon. His first season in Austin was the team’s stellar 2022 season, where he recorded five goals and five assists. Finlay is a member of a surprisingly small group of MLS players to have more than 50 goals and 50 assists in his MLS career (his equalizer against Colorado on Decision Day was number 60). Finlay is a leader in the locker room, derives experience from his long MLS journey, and currently sits on the MLS Players Association (MLSPA) executive board. His leadership, stable presence, and work ethic may still be valuable enough for him to occupy a roster spot in 2025, as the club undergoes a significant roster and culture reset.
Downs: It’s just numbers. Next season he will be 35, and unfortunately, his production in 2024 fell off dramatically. His goal on Saturday was only his second shot on target of the entire season. In 824 minutes played, he only had five total shot attempts. The effort from Finlay was there, but on a dysfunctional squad with a slower pace, it no longer translated to any real threat. Traditionally dependable for his playmaking skills, he had zero assists this season and only created 3 chances. With a major roster transition underway and Rodolfo Borrell tightening his grip on the Sporting Director throne, there is a good chance Finlay will not be in Austin next season. To his credit, Finlay will have plenty of opportunities to remain connected to the league and the sport in a coaching role or as a broadcaster. Finlay should be remembered fondly in Austin regardless of where he is next season.
Matt Hedges (Defender, Age 34, 2025/2026 Club Options)
Ups: Hedges arrived in Austin as an emergency center back acquisition right as the 2023 Season fully derailed. Greeting him was a fanbase in turmoil over the sudden trade of fan favorite Diego Fagundez to the Galaxy and a flawed roster in clear disharmony. It didn’t help that most of Hedges successful MLS career was with FC Dallas, or that his salary upon arrival was $913K. Fagundez’s $1 million per year contract had been the subject of repeated public ire from then-head coach Josh Wolff. You may be wondering where the actual positives are here. Well, despite the context and abruptness of his arrival, Hedges conducted himself as a professional and did what he could to make an impact on the pitch.
Downs: It’s difficult to see where keeping Hedges for one more year, let alone two, would be in the club’s best interest. He is one of several older players on an elevated salary (now $560K according to figures released Thursday by the MLSPA) signed under the Reyna/Wolff/Sean Rubio regime. Despite still earning around 3 times as much as regular starter Brendan Hines-Ike, Hedges only appeared in 15 matches this season. While it’s not his fault, he carries the baggage of poor Front Office decisions and is commonly (if not unfairly) identified with those mistakes. It’s easy to see Borrell jettisoning Hedges as part of the larger organizational retooling.
Alex Ring (33, Midfielder, 2025 Club Option)
Ups: Statistics won’t fully demonstrate the intangible value the Finnish Midfielder and MLS mainstay has provided Austin in his four seasons with the club. Alex IS Austin FC’s Captain. Period. Right as the 2023 season was set to begin, the club announced that the armband would now be given to Sebastian Driussi. This was followed by Josh Wolff starting Owen Wolff at Ring’s expense for the first match of the 2023 season. This sequence of events helped kickstart a negative vibe shift that persisted in Austin during the remainder of Josh Wolff’s tenure. When an injury crisis hit Austin’s backline shortly after, Ring was tasked with playing out-of-position centerback for an extended period. This continued for weeks as Wolff insisted on playing with 3 CBs even when only 1 or 2 natural CBs were healthy.
Throughout it all, Ring locked in and did whatever was asked of him, even if it was evident he was unhappy with the situation. This is just one example of the ways Ring exemplifies leadership on the pitch, in the locker room, and in solidarity with Austin FC supporters. He plays for the crest, speaks from the heart, and remains an intimidating presence on the pitch. Ring is the kind of player whose impact you most notice when he is absent. His persistent passion and willingness to go to war for his team stood in contrast to the malaise that gripped the organization on and off the pitch in Wolff’s final season.
Downs: The key issue is his salary. As part of a budgetary shell game, Ring was given a Designated Player (DP) contract in 2023 and made $1.67 million in 2024. This was done by previous management to free up total allocation money (TAM) for other roster needs. Ring’s contract involved the first known detonation of a “Reyna Bomb,” when he triggered an automatic renewal for 2024 at the same salary level by reaching very achievable benchmarks. This decided to stay in Austin easier for him despite the turmoil and angst of 2023 and Wolff controversially returning as manager in 2024. As anticipated, Borrell used TAM money to “buy down” Ring from his DP status. I’ll skip the mind-numbing details and say it was exchanged for more MLS money to spend. Ring benefited financially from weird MLS budgeting requirements and moving forward it is not in the club’s best interest to give an aging midfielder such a large salary. If Ring returns, something that would ultimately be welcomed by the fanbase, it will need to be on a more austere and manageable salary.
Jhojan Valencia (Midfielder, Age 28, 2025 Club Option)
Ups: Jhojan is a defensive midfielder in the most concrete of definitions. His impact may go unnoticed by casual observers, but it is certainly appreciated by his teammates and those who follow Austin FC closely. While he is not the most agile or fastest player on the pitch, Valencia relies on his understated vision, positioning, and physicality to play his position. Signed from Deportivo Cali (Colombia) for the 2022 Season, some assumed he was a lock to start at the 6 that season, with Daniel Pereira relegated to the bench. That didn’t happen. Dani’s skill set, superior footwork, and playing style ultimately fit better with Josh Wolff’s plans, and kept his starting role by playing at a consistently high level.
Valencia had some chances to make his case, but never fully looked at home with the way Austin was coached to play. Regardless, his impact was noticeable in matches where the team needed to lock down defensively. Valencia’s decision-making and reliable passes out of the defensive zone sometimes helped Austin FC avoid trouble in the backfield. Along with a near 90% pass accuracy rate, his 5 accurate long balls per 90 minutes and an impressive 72% long ball accuracy rate put him in the top 12% of MLS players in both categories.
Downs: Another season of being stuck in limbo with irregular starts is not in Valencia’s or Austin FC’s best interests. Jhojan hinted that he was considering a move late in the 2024 Season. If Austin FC’s plans still involve Pereira and Ring (or a new higher-profile midfielder) in 2025, a mutual split should be in the plans. Valencia’s salary was more than 3 times more than Pereira’s in 2024, despite only 16 starts and significantly fewer minutes. Also unclear is whether his style of play will figure into Estévez’s tactical plans. His offensive contributions are minimal, while his defensive statistics in 2024 were profoundly average. We don’t know if the book is closed on his time in Austin. However, it seems far more likely than not.
Daniel Pereira (Midfielder, Age 24, 2025 Option)
Ups: Arguably Austin FC’s most well-rounded player, and certainly one of its most talented. Daniel Pereira’s professional identity has been coterminous with Austin FC since the club made the Virginia Tech standout from Venezuela the first overall pick in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft. Dani is in some ways Austin FC’s first homegrown player in a spiritual sense, even if that title belongs to Owen Wolff. His growth as a player on a new franchise has been sometimes meteoric and other times (circumstantially) uneven. But he is on his way to either becoming one of the very best midfielders in MLS, or a regular on a competitive European squad. Despite Austin FC’s regression in 2023 and 2024, Dani’s numbers (particularly his passing statistics) continued to improve. He fearlessly excels with the ball at his feet. His electric skill set sometimes looked at odds with Josh Wolff’s mostly playing him at the 6 rather than as an 8 (he was a 10 at Virginia Tech). In 2024, Dani won an astonishing 49 fouls (more than 2 per match) and was in the top 10% in successful dribbles on a team where few players are skilled in that way. His cross accuracy (important in Josh Wolff’s system, for what it’s worth) improved from 26% in 2023 to 42% in 2024 and his total of successful crosses was triple that of the previous season.
Pereira put in a man-of-the-match performance with a goal and an assist in Austin’s upset of Monterrey in the Leagues Cup and has begun to receive regular call-ups from the fast-rising Venezuelan National Team. The minutes aren’t there for him with La Vinotinto yet, but his future with the squad looks bright. His family has made their home in Austin and has become a wholesome and beloved presence in Austin’s soccer community. I could type dozens of additional paragraphs about him, but I’ll close this one by saying that if you can have Dani Pereira on your team, you want Dani Pereira on your team.
Downs: This is where Dani’s situation gets tricky. The downsides have little to do with the player himself and a lot to do with previous decisions made by the organization. Dani is criminally underpaid relative to his importance and contributions to the team (only $138K guaranteed in 2024). This escalated into a bit of a standoff between his agent and Austin’s Front Office after the 2022 season, just as Claudio Reyna became distracted and ultimately had to resign as Sporting Director due to a ridiculous public spat with USMNT Manager Gregg Berhalter over his son Gio Reyna’s lack of playing time at the World Cup. With the Front Office in turmoil, a truce was made, and he returned via a club option on a salary not much more than $50K above the league minimum. With his stature rising and new management in town, it may no longer be tenable to continue delaying a decision on whether to give Dani a contract commiserate with his skills and performance or to perhaps facilitate an upward move, perhaps to Europe, this summer.
Notably, LAFC was interested in acquiring Pereira from Austin last offseason but was given an intentionally unserious fee request of $4 million in GAM in return by Austin FC. As he enters his mid-20s, a move to Europe probably needs to happen sooner rather than later. Borrell has been quiet with regard to Dani’s status, further suggesting that his situation is more complicated than it is with the players (Owen Wolff, Hines-Ike, Obrian, Rubio) who have already been re-signed. It is reasonable to hope that Dani hasn’t played his final match in Austin. But eventually, the question of whether Austin or another MLS club will be the one that receives a transfer fee in European currency for him will need to be answered. Hopefully, it is one that is mutually beneficial for Pereira and Austin FC.
WRITTEN BY: JORDAN STEWART
