Austin FC didn’t take long to provide clarity on its end-of-season roster question marks.
On Monday afternoon, a full week before free agency decisions were due per MLS rules, the club announced it exercised contract options for two players, starting goalkeeper Brad Stuver and defensive project Charlie Asensio, to bring the current roster to 22 players.
The club also clarified that Hector Jimenez is out of contract, and that it declined contract options with five players who were also with Austin FC in 2022 — Danny Hoesen, Freddy Kleemann, Felipe Martins, Will Pulisic and Andrew Tarbell. The club also clarified that it would not exercise the transfer option for Washington Corozo, who was loaned from Peruvian club Sporting Cristal this summer.
The moves leave Austin FC with just a pair of goalkeepers on the current roster — Stuver and Damian Las — and two forwards, Moussa Djitté and Maxi Urruti.
While the players out of contract and who had options declined can negotiate new contracts, the moves might signal places where Austin FC might look to upgrade — including at striker. Should Hoesen not negotiate a new deal with Austin FC, it will mean that the club won’t have any of the 2020 MLS Expansion draft players — with the Jared Stroud trade announced earlier today — on the roster, less than two years after the draft took place, and four days before St. Louis City SC takes players from other club’s rosters to join Stroud as part of that team's first-ever roster.
Austin FC is exempt from that draft, of course, because of Charlotte FC’s surprise selection of McKinze Gaines in the 2021 MLS Expansion draft.
Asensio joins seven other defenders on the current roster, including Julio Cascante, Ruben Gabrielsen, Jon Gallagher, Kipp Keller, Žan Kolmanič, Nick Lima and Jhohan Romaña.
The team also currently has 10 midfielders on the roster, including Sebastián Driussi, Diego Fagundez, Ethan Finlay, Daniel Pereira, Tomás Pochettino, Rodney Redes, Emiliano Rigoni, Alex Ring, Jhojan Valencia and Owen Wolff.