Orlando City Interested In Signing Kaka As Designated Player, Says Report

For months, discussion has floated around Florida soccer circles that when Orlando City moves to MLS, Kaka will be their first Designated Player signing. With the official news of OCSC’s admission to MLS beginning in 2015, the discussion of Kaka moving to Orlando City SC has intensified according to BBC Sport.

For Kaka, who is enjoying somewhat of a renaissance in Milan this season, a move to MLS at this stage in his career is logical.  Orlando is also a logical destination with a large population of Brazilians, frequent Brazilian tourists and proximity to an even larger Brazilian population in southeast Florida.

Orlando City should use the contacts Head Coach Adrian Heath and co-owner Phil Rawlins (a director at Stoke City) have in English football to bring another DP from Europe to the club in 2015. Orlando City and their predecessor Austin Aztex (the club was relocated in 2010) has shown ability at the minor league level to attract players with long professional histories in English football. That ability and those contacts will prove invaluable at the Major League level.

It is critical in the competitive entertainment market that Central Florida represents that Orlando City come out of the gate quickly with the type of flashiness that will cement the loyalty of fans locally. The team has attracted remarkable crowds at the minor league level but much of that can possibly explained by the constant winning the club did at the Division 3 level.

The Central Florida market should be a successful one for MLS. But signing Kaka and one other DP would really move the bar forward for the newly minted MLS side.