Cecilio Domínguez's time with Austin FC is over, the club announced on Saturday morning. According to a statement, Austin FC and Domínguez mutually agreed to terminate his contract with the club, effective immediately.
The departure of Domínguez opens a designated player spot on the Austin FC roster, potentially making way for rumored target Emiliano Rigoni.
Domínguez had not played for Verde since March 20, following a suspension and investigation into a domestic dispute with his ex-partner that began in early April. He was reinstated by Major League Soccer on May 4, but did not make a match day roster in the time following his reinstatement. He had been training with the club until this week, according to head coach Josh Wolff.
In 38 appearances for Verde, Domínguez finished with nine goals and four assists. He became the club's joint-leading scorer during its 2021 expansion campaign with seven goals, tied with Diego Fagúndez. In 2022, he played only four matches and scored a brace in the season opener on Feb. 26 against FC Cincinnati.
What does it mean?
MLS roster rules can be cumbersome, but the wording of this move makes it fairly straightforward. Domínguez is no longer on the Austin FC roster, and his salary will no longer count against the team's budget. The designated player spot that Domínguez occupied is vacant.
It's different than a buyout, where the club would have to pay the player's full salary and not get relief for it, because in this case Domínguez (and his agent Diego Serrati) agreed to terminate the contract immediately.
What does Domínguez gain from that? Well, we don't yet know for sure, and Serrati did not immediately respond when asked for comment, but reports out of Mexico suggest that the Paraguayan is headed for Santos Laguna next. Assuming that Santos did not want to pay a transfer fee, terminating the Austin FC contract would allow him to sign with and begin playing for Santos immediately. Remember, Domínguez hasn't played since March.
🚨Santos Laguna negocia por el ex América Cecilio Domínguez. Hay optimismo para que llegue cedido desde el Austin. https://t.co/5i7mBN0zSy
— César Luis Merlo (@CLMerlo) July 21, 2022
On the Austin FC side, this arrangement means that the club is taking a loss on the reported $2.5 million it paid for Domínguez back in 2020. According to the MLS Players Association, Domínguez was guaranteed $1.736 million in compensation for 2022. Whatever is left to be paid from that is moot.
Opening up a DP spot also means that Verde is now free to go sign a player with an unlimited transfer fee and salary, at the discretion of course of how much ownership is willing to pay for such a player. There is strong reporting out of Brazil, backed up by our own reporting at The Striker, that Argentine winger Emiliano Rigoni is the player Austin FC has chosen to replace Domínguez. The reported transfer fee for Rigoni, who currently plays for São Paulo FC in Brazil, is $4 million.
And if you've not been following the Domínguez saga over the past few months, the timeline below should help catch you up on why this solution made sense for both Austin FC and Domínguez.