Dynamo buyout Sebastian Ferreira’s contract

The Sebastian Ferreira saga has officially come to an end with the Houston Dynamo and the Paraguayan forward agreeing to mutually terminate his contract. The agreement counts as one of Houston’s two buyouts for the season and will also open up a Designed Player spot.

Ferreira joined the Dynamo three years ago to the day, signing from Libertad in Paraguay on January 18, 2022. The 26-year-old ends his time in Houston with 60 appearances in league play, scoring 18 goals and recording six assists. He scored 13 goals in his debut season for the club but fell out of favor under Ben Olsen. A failed loan move to Vasco da Gama in Brazil did not help his value and the Dynamo did not have much leverage to move him and his big contract.

Ferreira looked to be the starting striker heading into the 2024 season but a hamstring injury in the first match of the season landed him on the sidelins for an extended amount of time. Ferreira scored five goals in the season, including a hat trick away to D.C. United. The Dynamo brought in forward Ezequiel Ponce on a club-record tansfer fee in the summer, signaling the club was moving away from Ferreira.

The buyout now leaves the Dynamo with one Designated Player, Ponce. President of Soccer Pat Onstad has been on record saying Houston will use the 2 DP and 4 Under-22 roster model, in order to gain additional General Allocation Money. Using that model, the Dynamo can now add 1 DP and another U22. Onstad and the front office can now move forward on finding a DP number 10, or perhaps an 8 to replace Hector Herrera and Coco Carrasquilla in the midfield.