Orlando City winger Alexander Alvarado has been loaned to Ecuadorian Side LDU Quioto on a one-year loan with an option to buy, per the Ecuadorian club. Curiously, Orlando City did not announce the news at all, with only LDU saying anything about the move. Alvarado even trained with Orlando City on Tuesday.
Alvarado was brought into Orlando late in 2020, originally on loan before being fully purchased before the 2021 season. The Ecuadorian youth international was a promising prospect for Orlando City, but played very little. He has just 12 MLS appearances and 216 minutes with no goals or assists. He was below Nani, Chris Mueller, Benji Michel and Silvester van der Water on the depth chart, making playing time hard to come by.
Heading into 2022, Alvarado seemed poised to take another step in his development. Nani and Mueller are gone and seemingly minutes were there for Alvarado. There are rumors for at least one big-time signing on the wing, but given the investment previously put into Alvarado, it seemed a safe bet he’d play a role in 2022. Apparently that’s not the case, however, as he’ll suit up for LDU in Ecuadorian Serie A.
LDU Quioto is one of the biggest clubs in Ecuador and recently sold midfielder Jordy Alcavar to Charlotte FC. If he shows well in his home country, Orlando will recoup at least some of the transfer fee they paid for Alvarado, either from LDU or another club.
This loan does put further onus on Orlando to bring more wingers into the fray. As things stand, the only first-team wingers on the roster are Michel and van der Water, while the striker options are equally questionable. With a lack of depth, and in some ways a lack of quality, new signings need to be finalized soon with the season starting in just over a month and preseason already underway.