MLS

Official: Asier Illarramendi signs for FC Dallas

The 33-year-old central has penned a deal with the MLS club that will see him play in Dallas for the remainder of the season.

Asier Illarramendi has signed for FC Dallas after the MLS side announced that the Basque midfielder will play in the Lone Star State for the current season with an option to extend the deal for the 2024 campaign. The central player was a free agent after he parted ways with Real Sociedad at the end of June.

In Dallas he will join a club with a strong Spanish influence with Valencia native Nico Estévez as head coach and his support team of Javier Cabello and Miguel Villagrasa all hailing from the Iberian peninsula. The club’s center-back José Martínez is a former Eibar player and striker Jesús Jiménez enjoying a spell with Cádiz in the past.

“Asier is a high-quality midfielder who brings more than a decade of LaLiga experience, including three years during a remarkable career at Real Madrid,” said FC Dallas technical director Andre Zanotta. “His leadership will be an asset to the entire organization”. FC Dallas face Inter Miami in the Round of 16 of the Leagues Cup with the clash set for Saturday, August 7.

The shadow of Xabi Alonso

After a brief three-year stint at Real Madrid, where he arrived being hailed as the natural heir to Xabi Alonso, he returned to Real Sociedad in 2015. ‘Illara’ played 253 games, bagging eleven goals and 17 assists, with the 2021 Copa del Rey as his most precious asset for his boyhood club.

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