A busier day than I might have expected from an Orlando City news front but that's alright. I'll get into all of it in a second but I want to quickly say happy birthday to my wonderful mother. You are such an amazing person and I hope you had an amazing day.
Orlando City Begin Preseason (@OrlandoCitySC)
Today was the first day of our preseason training camp. The team went out and got their first two training sessions done at our newly opened facility. Everyone seemed in an excited mood from the pictures and interviews passed around today. I absolutely love our new facility and I hope it helps to bring the best out of our players.
Robinho (@OrlandoCitySC, @CleonONE)
Orlando City announced today that Robinho officially got his green card and does not take up an international slot now. We knew that this was going to happen for months now thanks to @CleonONE but now it is official. I must say, I am extremely happy for him. He could potentially be much more impactful for us next season. While he was here and in Columbus, his significant other was not with him and I'm sure that didn't help him on the pitch. Thankfully, now his wife is with him and he is now an American Citizen, therefore he should be less stressed off the field which will allow him to focus more on it.
Alex Castro (@Ruben_Beristain)
So. As you all know, this situation is a very strange one. Basically, Alex Castro seems to have signed with a new agent while unknowingly still being with his old one. This was because there was a clause saying he would extend with his old agent unless the agent was given notice that Castro didn't want to. Castro didn't know about this so he didn't give that notice. Anyways, Castro showed up to the negotiations with Cruz Azul with two agents, which would have cost more money due to higher agent fees. It looks like Castro himself was also asking for a little bit more money than originally planned. Either way, Cruz Azul has pulled out of the deal and Castro has been instructed to head back to Deportivo Cali for training. This explanation came from various reports by @Ruben_Beristain, @Leonlec, El Universal, and ESPN MX.
I think we should go back in for him near the end of Colombia's transfer window, which is on the 21st of February. There is no way Deportivo Cali will want to keep him and as their window closes, they will want to get in a replacement for him. They will need the funds we give them to do that and therefore they might accept a lower bid as that seems to have been the problem last time. However, if they aren't willing to lower their evaluation, I would move on and go after our plan B guy so we don't waste our time trying to get him in.
'Til next time, this has been Gavin Rushnell and #VamosOrlando