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Emiliano Rigoni’s disappointing Austin FC career ends with six goals and six assists in 58 appearances over three seasons. (credit: Austin FC)
From his appointment in late 2019 to his disgraced resignation in early 2023, Claudio Reyna made some big changes while serving as Austin FC’s first sporting director.
While a handful of those swings — Sebastián Driussi, Brad Stuver and Dani Pereira — connected for the moonshot, many more resulted in high-priced whiffs that nearly condemned the club to a multi-year sentence of MLS mediocrity.
On Tuesday, Austin FC finally got rid of Reyna’s biggest and most expensive player when the club announced the contract buyout and subsequent release of designated player Emiliano Rigoni.
According to a report from The Athletic, Rigoni’s contract, valued at just over $2 million per year, contained an irregular (and for ATXFC, disastrous) clause that would have automatically triggered an extension through the 2025 season if Rigoni make at least 12 MLS appearances. 2024. The 31-year-old Argentine winger scored one goal and failed to register an assist in 11 appearances this season.
Austin FC originally signed Rigon in July 2022, in the midst of the club’s most successful season to date. Austin paid Rigon’s former club, São Paulo FC, a $4 million transfer fee to bring Rigon together with Driuss, his compatriot and former Zenit St. Petersburg teammate, at the height of the Verde attack. It never clicked, as Rigoni had just six goals and six assists in 58 total appearances in Austin. This season, most of the club’s attacking success has come without Rigon on the field.
Rigoni can now be added to a sharp list of high-priced former Austin FC flops that also includes Rodney Redes, Cecilio Domínguez and Tomás Pochettino. These four players, all signed under Reyna, make up the club’s second, third, fourth and fifth most expensive transfers, costing the club a combined total of $11 million in transfer fees plus millions of others in annual salaries.
That’s a lot of Anthony Precourt money. Such is the price of bad hires, as Reyna proved for Austin FC. But in parting ways with Rigon, Austin FC can now finally close the book Claudio Reyna Era once and for all.
Conversely, it can now advance before the prologue of the Rodolfo Borrell Era. In his 11 months as ATXFC’s sporting director since leaving Manchester City for Texas, Borrell has mostly had to work his way around the confines of the roster as he waits for some of the club’s finances and roster spots to change. high impact to be released.
Now, Borrell can really get his hands dirty. Rigon’s departure essentially frees up one of Austin FC’s three designated player (DP) spots, which could be used by the type of high-earning, high-impact players Borrell spent three decades working with. Europe. And according to him, Austin is where many of those players want to be.
“This is a very attractive place and there are a lot of players from all over the world who are interested in coming here,” Borrell said last fall. “Names You Can’t Even Believe.”
With the European club season winding down and a summer transfer window just weeks away, Borrell now has an opportunity to make good on this big conversation. After back-to-back home wins last week, Austin FC has climbed to No. 3 in the Western Conference standings and could benefit greatly by adding another impact player to the attack. However, the club may choose to exercise patience and save its big chip for the MLS offseason.
If nothing else, Austin FC can finally move forward without the ball and chain that was Claudio Reyna’s erratic eye for talent (and apparent love of unorthodox contract language) slowing its rotation.
For more Austin FC news and analysis, visit The Austin ChronicleS ‘ Austin FC Center. Follow The Verde Report columnist Eric Goodman at X: @goodman.
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