The truest maxim in sports has always been “change is the only thing that stays the same.” That remained true this August for FC Cincinnati as the MLS Secondary Transfer Window came and went, and the FCC roster looked significantly different from when the window opened four weeks prior.
FC Cincinnati announced the deadline-day acquisitions of Dominik Marczuk and Brenner on Friday morning, both on loan, to add to their already busy window. Marczuk, a winger, came in as a U22 from Real Salt Lake and Brenner, the former FC Cincinnati forward who is third in club history for goals scored, returned from Italian side Udinese.
The additions join the previously announced newcomers in U22 midfielder Samual Gidi, who hails from Ghana but comes to Cincy via Slovakian top-flight side MŠK Žilina, and Moroccan forward on loan from French club Grenoble Ayoub Jabbari. Ender Echenique, who has been with the club now for weeks, is also a newcomer in this window, even if he feels like old news given the busy final days of the window.
In all, five new players joined the club in the window, with four of which now having made their debuts for the club. The lone absentee at this point is Samual Gidi, who is expected to join the team following this international break as he participates with the Slovakian U21 squad at the UEFA 2027 U21 Championships Qualifying.
Newcomers to the roster come in with little time left in the season, but their impact will be needed. With five games left in the season before the playoffs begin, the marathon of a regular season has all of a sudden turned into a sprint. FCC are still in position to win trophies, both the Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup are “in play” so to speak, so getting those newcomers integrated with the squad in a hurry would be a priority.
“With the additions, without the additions, we feel like we're a strong group,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said. “What others think of us and winning things, it doesn't matter. We are confident in the group we have. We're confident in our additions that we can potentially add and trying to finish off the season in a strong way."
“I don't think it would be too difficult because of how they've looked,” Noonan said of what the integration period could be like with some many new players. It can be a challenge at times for a head coach to bring so many new players into a system and get them on the same page, both in regards to getting a new player up to speed but also in coaching the incumbent players as to how to work with that new face.
“You learn through experience,” Noonan continued. “I think in going in acquiring new players, getting in front of them, obviously, we have the ability to get on Zoom calls more frequently to get a better understanding of these players, their representation, and you try to familiarize yourself with them. I think that allows you to initiate conversations in a way where, okay, 'this is what you can expect. This is how the next week, two weeks, three weeks look like, as far as until you get here, when you get here.' You know, for different reasons, you can set up calls to start looking at style of play and ideas that you have because the deal has been done, but you don't have those players in the market. That's something that you try to get ahead of.
“Sometimes it's a very quick transition,” Noonan added “New additions are in market right away, and now it's getting them up to speed face-to-face. So it's different for each player and the timeline of them joining the team. But like I said, you have to take into account what they're coming from, as far as their environment, playing style, how are they going to fit into your group? So you try to get them as comfortable as possible, maybe you connect them with a player because that makes sense. There's been plenty of lessons that we've learned to try to help integrate new pieces, but it's case-by-case as far as how quick and how good that transition looks on and off the field."
Four of the newcomers made a large impact in their first game (in as much as minutes go), with Echenique, Brenner and Marczuk starting and Jabbari coming into the game late in the 1-0 defeat to Philadelphia last time out.
The additions represent a major shakeup to the roster, but comes as a bit of a surprise. FC Cincinnati was, in the words of their General Manager and many soccer pundits, relatively restricted this window in terms of Salary Cap space to operate in. So to get as many players as they did, and the quality of players they did, displays some savvy business at the window.
“I think going into the window, given the cap flexibility that we did not have, I probably expected more, like, maybe two players in. To be able to get five in was, I think, a surprise for all of us,” FC Cincinnati General Manager Chris Albright said in a media scrum at training last week. “A pleasant surprise. Obviously, some sacrifices when you do that in a salary cap league, but ultimately, the play on the field will determine what success is or isn't. Sheer numbers of players aren't a predictor of success, so we'll see how these players continue to integrate into the team.”
The sacrifices Albright refers to are the departures of forwards Sergio Santos and Corey Baird, and defender DeAndre Yedlin. Santos was waived from the roster using one of the clubs buy-outs, and Baird and Yedlin were both traded. Both players landed in favorable situations as Baird returned to his home of Southern California with San Diego FC, and Yedlin went to Real Salt Lake after a long back and forth with FCC where a contract extension could not be agreed to. Albright clarified that FCC “all but matched” the offer Yedlin received from RSL, but in the end the departure was the player's choice.
In all, the guiding light of this window was to continue to get better to maximize the opportunity this group had to win a trophy. The additions, all in their own way, were also targeted specifically for their ability to help FCC play in specific ways.
“I think we were looking to get better with the ball a little bit,” Albright said as to the more broad vision for the window before diving into further detail. “In Ayoub (Jabarrai) specifically, to get somebody big and mobile, I think you saw that the other night, the physicality, the size, someone that could supplement what Evander and Kevin do up there.”
“In the case of Sammy Gidi, finding a real ball progresser, or someone that could retain the ball in midfield and connect and move us up the field. So every one of those additions was sort of a key element that they added to the game that we thought could help enhance the group we already had.”
“We kind of saw it as a really, really nice to have,” Albright continued on the addition of Brenner. “A great piece that’s a line, but not necessarily a must have at the time. But I think, certainly an exclamation point on the window. A player with incredible ability that hopefully gives us a chance to realize some of our expectations.”
Brenner’s return to Cincinnati is, perhaps, the most tantalizing of the bunch. Following his departure to Italy in 2023, his return is surprising but also holds the highest potential for success for the team in 2025. As a striker, Brenner brings his offensive quality to complement Kévin Denkey and fellow the mononym’d Brazilian Evander. So it could be seen as FCC’s potential in 2025 goes as far as those three take them.
“They all know how to play the game at a high level,” Chris Albright said as to how he sees Brenner messing with Denkey and Evander. “I think we saw some really elite patterns of play in training last week that, unfortunately, we didn't see as much in the game. Players of that quality tend to understand players that have similar qualities, and so I think that their soccer IQ should be what rises above and allows them to connect quickly. But that's also on us to design a game plan that enhances those qualities that those players have. So some of it's on them and some of it's on us.”
The final addition came in the final moments of the transfer window when FC Cincinnati finalized the loan of Dominic Marczuk, a winger/wingback from Real Salt Lake, on loan for the rest of the season. Marczuk, who comes in on a U22 initiative deal, was a player that FCC had been looking at long before any of their other dealings with RSL. While initially a key player for the Utah club, a change in formation has left Marczuk in an awkward space, opening the door for FCC to add a player who can supplement the roster now in a transaction that leaves options for the future still on the table.
“He's another guy that we have been tracking, even pre Salt Lake, that scored well for us in our data,” Albright said of the young Polish wingback. “So a player that we were familiar with.”
“We ask a lot of our wing backs with the ball,” Albright continued. “So we knew that Dom had qualities – even though he's a young player – qualities with the ball can get in spots that we feel are dangerous spots. He's got a great engine. He's a willing worker. He's a good soccer player and a young player that we think can get better. In league loans are rare. But I think another, sort of, efficient way to manage the cap in a period like this. To try to get an additive piece and still maintain flexibility.”
FC Cincinnati have five games to play to get things sorted before the playoffs, but with the window now closed, things are mostly (if not entirely) set for the group they will go to battle with.
While in a bit of a downturn with results, losing three games at home, with the most recent match being the debut of many of these new (and returning) players, the focus is getting everyone on the same page. However, with the talent on the team, Chris Albright concluded his conversation on the transfer window by highlighting the team's talent and what it can achieve.
“I think we have elite difference makers where it matters most,” Albright said. “The margins of our game are about scoring goals...goals are so critical, and I think we have elite personnel in those areas. So certainly with Kévin (Denkey) and Evander, they've shown it. Brenner, shown it in the past. Players that we brought in, I feel good about the group of players that we're adding, and that they're all going to fit in the right way. Then health's a big part of it. So we anticipate Obi (Nwobodo) coming back and being a part of the playoffs, and we anticipate Miles (Robinson) back shortly. Those are two gigantic pieces that help us play like we want to play and make the other guys better. So we put all that together and we're going to give it our best run at it.”
The Orange and Blue host Nashville SC this weekend in their return to action after the International Window and will be celebrating Oktoberfest at the match as well. Click here to learn more about the match.