Your Monday Kickoff: How Facundo Farías injury impacts Inter Miami’s 2024 ceiling

What you need to know

Inter Miami's Farías suffers long-term knee injury

Facundo Farías is expected to miss Inter Miami CF’s highly-anticipated 2024 season after suffering a left ACL injury during their first preseason match. The 21-year-old attacker got injured as a second-half substitute in Friday’s scoreless draw vs. El Salvador, a Central American trip that began the Herons’ global preseason tour. Farías will undergo surgery in the coming weeks.

New York City FC sign Parks to new contract

New York City FC have signed midfielder Keaton Parks to a contract extension through the 2026 MLS season with options for 2027-28. Parks has spent the past five seasons with NYCFC after joining from Portuguese powerhouse Benfica, providing 14g/6a in 152 matches across all competitions. He’s won MLS Cup (2021) and Campeones Cup (2022) titles during that time.

Atlanta United loan Sosa to Racing Club

Atlanta United have loaned central midfielder Santiago Sosa to Argentine top-flight side Racing Club through the 2024 season. The 24-year-old returns to his native country after posting 1g/1a in 63 matches (51 starts) over the past three seasons. He initially joined Atlanta from River Plate in early 2021.

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Small-sided: A major setback for Inter Miami

Miami will be missing a young star, NYCFC held on to a not-so-young-anymore star and Atlanta shipped out a potential young star that never reached that level. Let’s talk it out.

Facundo Farías potentially out for the season

The biggest news of the weekend came from El Salvador. During Inter Miami’s first match of their lengthy preseason tour, U22 winger Facundo Farías tore his ACL. Farías, who arrived for a reported $5.5 million transfer fee, is arguably the most promising young player on Inter Miami’s roster. He seemed set to start for a vaunted Inter Miami attack at left wing in a front three with Luis Suárez and Lionel Messi. In his absence, it seems like the team will turn to Robert Taylor to fill that position.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Lol do you hear yourself steering this newsletter into a column worrying about a team that’s starting Luis Suárez and Lionel Messi???” In large part, I think you’re right. Everything is clearly still on the table for Inter Miami. Farías is a high-upside player, but Taylor is an effective player who understands how to fit within a team full of superstars. The Herons are far from doomed.

But what I think makes this team so fascinating is their ceiling. We’re talking about the loftiest skyscraper with only one floor kind of ceiling imaginable. This XI, when healthy and available, is capable of winning every competition they’re in this season. All of them. Even without Farías. They could be holding up the Concacaf Champions Cup, Leagues Cup, Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup by the end of the season. It’s unlikely, but the fact it’s even plausible is a reality very few teams, if any, in MLS history have experienced.

With Farías out, the probability of that happening drops. In particular, their chances at the Supporters’ Shield, the most difficult task on Miami’s checklist, took a hit. To be honest, it already seemed like a long shot. We know they’ll be rolling out their best possible XI for the short-term competitions with a trophy on the line. We know that means they’ll likely go deep into those competitions. Considering the age and miles on the legs of their best XI, it doesn’t seem probable that we’ll see that group playing in 95-degree weather against Toronto in a July regular-season game.

This is where Farías, 21 years old and with plenty to prove, could have played a key role. In the moments where Messi and Suárez aren’t on the pitch, someone will need to step up and keep the Herons rolling enough to at least secure a home playoff spot. Without Farías, that task gets that much more difficult.

In the end, the injury isn’t a total long-term disaster for Miami. But this is still an MLS team. You can only take so many hits to your starting XI before things go south. Reaching the highs they want to reach just became a lot harder.

Tiki-Taka

• NYCFC have locked down Keaton Parks for the next few seasons. That’s excellent business on their part. Parks should continue to be one of the best central midfielders in the league and may have even more room to grow. That said, I still have no idea what to think about this NYCFC team, and they haven’t seemed all that interested this offseason in improving a group that fell far short of expectations last year. Typically, NYCFC figure it out eventually. It’s tougher to be sure of that these days.

• Santiago Sosa is officially out after completing a loan to Racing. We’ve come a long way from Jim Curtin remarking that Sosa would be one of the year’s best signings in 2021. At the time, I believed him. Sosa’s first few appearances were excellent, and he always had an impressive passing ability. But the rest never clicked. Anyway, Sosa will still occupy a U22 spot while on loan. Atlanta can’t clear that spot until he’s officially sold. Just something to keep in mind way down the line.

Other Things

Houston Dynamo transfer Úlfarsson to Hungarian club: Houston Dynamo FC have transferred striker Thorleifur Úlfarsson to Hungarian top-flight side Debreceni VSC. The 23-year-old Iceland native spent the past two seasons with Houston after being selected No. 4 overall (first round) in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas. He departs the Dynamo with 7g/2a in 49 league matches (12 starts).

Vancouver Whitecaps transfer Alexandre to Fortaleza: Vancouver Whitecaps FC have transferred Caio Alexandre to Fortaleza, who in turn have sold the player to fellow Brazilian Série A side Bahia. The 24-year-old midfielder officially departs Vancouver after posting one assist in 19 appearances (11 starts) between 2021-22, having spent the past year and a half on loan at Fortaleza.

USMNT fall in friendly vs. Slovenia: The US men's national team concluded January camp with a 1-0 defeat in Saturday's international friendly against Slovenia at Toyota Field in San Antonio.

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