Three forwards Austin FC could pursue in free agency
MLS free agency opens Wednesday and Austin FC will likely be active in making a splashy signing at forward.
Gyasi Zardes, last winter’s headline addition who mostly disappointed during the season, is the only forward the club currently has on the roster after not renewing the contracts of Maxi Urruti and Will Bruin last month.
Assuming Austin FC spends a lot of money on a forward from South America or Europe at some point this winter, here are three MLS free agents, with their most recent club in parentheses, it should also pursue to improve a position that lacked firepower in 2023.
Danny Musovski (Real Salt Lake)
He may be a bit of a gamble, but you could probably get Musovski for $350,000 a year or less.
Having just turned 28, he’s in his prime and coming off a year in which he scored five goals and had four assists in only 20 matches.
The risk comes with the reason why he saw limited action.
Unhappy with his contract — he made less than $100,000 — Musovski sat out plenty of training sessions and games in protest.
Still, assuming he isn’t a locker room cancer, this is a signing where Austin FC wouldn’t have to spend a lot and the upside could be prolific.
Diego Rubio (Colorado)
There’s some bias here as I’m personally a fan of Rubio as a player, but if he’s got a second wind following a year where he didn’t produce much — which, should be noted, came playing for a dreadful Colorado side — he’d be a solid pickup.
He’s only two years removed from a season in which he tallied 16 goals, while, like Musovski, he could probably be signed for roughly $400,000 a season or less on a short-term deal.
Rubio does turn 31 in May, and one of the issues Austin FC has had is with older strikers.
But if he’s signed at a decent price alongside a younger forward from overseas, it would be a very good move.
Josef Martinez (Inter Miami)
Although he’s not the player who scored 67 goals in three seasons late last decade for Atlanta anymore, Martinez showed quality this year with 12 goals in 40 appearances across three competitions (yes, I realize some of those assists came from Lionel Messi).
He’d bring an attitude that Austin FC missed on the field this year, and as long as he realizes that he’s being brought in to complement Sebastián Driussi, then he’d be a solid addition.
Whether he’s in Austin FC’s price range is debatable.
He made $4 million for Miami last year, but he won’t sign for anything remotely close to that for his next contract.