2022 Orlando City Player Reviews: Andres Perea

For the next week, I'll be recapping each Orlando City player's season for all player who played at least 100 MLS minutes per FBRef in 2022, starting from the least used player to the most used.

Up next is young midfield stalwart Andres Perea.

Perea's been one of the more disappointing players for Orlando City over the last two years. It's less his ability or performances, but his lack of real development or growth as a player. Perea arrived in Orlando in 2020, but after a promising debut season, has yet to really develop into anything more than a useful utility midfielder.

The Colombian-American midfielder played just 813 minutes in MLS this season, almost 1,000 fewer minutes than he played in 2021. The arrival of César Araújo certainly took a lot of minutes from Perea, but the 21-year-old also really struggled in many of his performances this season.

He did have two memorable goals in big games, including a scorcher against the Philadelphia Union in the US Open Cup. He only completed 83.5% of his passes in MLS play, among the lowest for Orlando midfielders.

Defensively, he racked up a respectable 4 combined tackles and interceptions per 90 minutes.

Perea's lack of playing time and development this season are a troubling sign for one of the better young players in Orlando's system. His first season was so promising that he earned a spot on the USMNT Olympic qualifying team, but this season he's arguably declined from that point.

The young midfielder's contract is set to expire in December, so the club will have to decide on his Orlando City future soon. If Orlando can negotiate a club-friendly renewal, it's a no-brainer to bring back a valuable depth midfielder, but if his asking price gets too high, Orlando needs to move on from Perea in midfield.