FC Dallas have scored a coup in the signing of a new, young Designated Player: Ecuadorian Carlos Gruezo. The team announced the transaction on Sat., Jan. 23, and per league and team policy, the terms of the deal will not be disclosed.
The 20-year-old midfielder boasts a serious resume for both club and country. He arrives in Dallas from Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart, to which he signed in January 2014. That fall, he scored his first goal for the team in a 4-1 victory over Frieburg; the feat made him the first Ecuadorian to score in that league. In total, he racked up 18 appearances for Stuttgart.
That same year marked Gruezo’s entry into the Ecuadorian senior national team, as well as a slot in the country’s FIFA World Cup squad. That made him the fourth-youngest player at the FIFA World Cup, and the second-youngest to start a match, behind only Luke Shaw (England). Since 2014, he's made 10 appearances for the country's senior national team.
Through all of those appearances, Gruezo’s displayed some serious versatility, a talent which FC Dallas is eagerly planning to explore. “His versatility will give us the opportunity to play a variety of formations, but most important for me is to see a player who, despite his age, has been at the highest level of international competition and has played at different positions,
said FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja in a statement. “[This] makes me think we can use him in a variety of roles, and that is important in Major League Soccer.”
