Austin FC signs USMNT-capped striker Gyasi Zardes to deal

Gyasi Zardes, the 31-year-old veteran striker entering his 11th season in MLS in 2023, will be doing so in Verde. 

Austin FC announced Monday that Zardes, a one-time U.S. men's national team first-choice striker, will join the club for the 2023 campaign. Zardes, who has played 267 MLS games since entering the league in 2013 with the LA Galaxy, is likely to score his 100th goal sometime during his debut season in Austin. Zardes is currently on 97 goals, coming off a challenging 2022 season that still saw him net double-digit goals despite moving from the Columbus Crew to Colorado Rapids mid-season. The total goal haul is 13th all-time in league history, and he'll have the chance to expand upon it in a system similar to one he's previously excelled in .

The club announced Zardes is on a three-year guaranteed deal through the end of the 2025 season, with an option for the 2026 season.

“I can’t wait to step out on the field at Q2 Stadium and represent both Austin FC and the community as a whole,” said Zardes via press release. “I love the way Austin FC plays, and look forward to working with Claudio, Josh, and the rest of the team. This is a special moment for my family and me.”

Before officially announcing the news, Austin FC's social media team teased the announcement with a clever tweet showing the striker's distinctive hairdo.

Zardes will be reunited with Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff, who served as the Crew's assistant coach under Gregg Berhalter during some of Zardes' most successful MLS seasons. In 2018, Zardes arrived in Columbus during Wolff's last season, reaching his apex with 19 goals that season while starting in all 33 of his appearances and logging nearly 3000 minutes. Over four full seasons with the Crew, Zardes mounted a 71-goal, six assist campaign before adding a goal during the initial stage of the 2022 season, before the Crew offloaded him to the Rapids. He also accumulated six of his 25 career assists in MLS while with the Crew. 

"He wasn't the hyped signing Rapids fans wanted, [but] nine goals and two assists was fine," assessed Matt Pollard of Last Word on Soccer, who followed Zardes during his 2022 season with Colorado. "He underwhelmed through stretches and didn't amplify the team as much as was needed from the DP striker position. But he was what I thought he was as far as MLS goes." 

Pollard went on to speculate that Zardes' salary – a $1.5 million base salary with $1.55 million guaranteed compensation last season, according to the MLS Players Association — wasn't one the Rapids would or could replicate in 2023, leading to his availability. 

"He was all about the team," Pollard added. "He worked really hard. After his debut, he was asked about the next game against RSL, and leaned into the rivalry. It took him a week to become a proper Burgundy Boy."

In addition to his club career, Zardes has made 68 appearances with the U.S. men's national team, scoring 14 goals and adding nine assists. The U.S. Soccer site notes that "he had a breakout year with [the] MNT" in 2015, going on to "play an important role in the USA’s fourth-place finish at the 2016 Copa America Centenario and the 2017 Concacaf Gold Cup title" — also part of the USMNT's ill-fated attempted to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. 

Zardes was also a member of the 2021 Gold Cup winning team, scoring a crucial 86th-minute game-winner for the USMNT against Qatar in the semifinal match – held, of course, in the Q2 Stadium that Zardes will now call home.