If you wondered how long it would take for Austin FC to start making off-season acquisitions, the answer is "not long at all."
For the second time on Thursday, Austin FC announced a player acquisition via a league mechanism meant to give players fresh starts — this time, it was young Sounders forward Alfonso Ocampo-Chávez, being claimed by Verde off the MLS End-of-Year Waivers list.
According to the club's press release, "The selection now gives Austin FC the ability to extend a contract offer to Ocampo-Chávez. In the event the Club and Ocampo-Chávez do not agree to terms on a contract, Austin FC retains the right of first refusal on the player."
Ocampo-Chávez played with the Seattle Sounders FC’s MLS NEXT Pro affiliate Tacoma Defiance in 2022, contributing nine goals and four assists. The 20-year-old has also spent time overseas, going to FC Pinzgau Saalfelden of the Austrian Regionalliga Salzburg in the latter part of 2021 on loan from the Sounders, getting a goal in 13 appearances there.
AOC, as he's sometimes known, has made three first-team appearances and just one start with the club back in 2019, when he was a 17-year-old wunderkind excelling in the Seattle academy.
He's also racked up an impressive youth international tenure so far, representing the United States at the U-14, U-15, and U-17 levels. He competed for the U.S. at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2019, and was a key part of the team’s qualifying campaign, playing in all seven of the team’s matches at the 2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship.
News of the AOC draft pick came on the heels of news earlier in the day that Austin FC traded up to the top spot in the Re-Entry Draft to claim Sofiane Djeffel from D.C. United.
