Facundo Torres will not be an Orlando City player much longer. That's not based on reporting or trying to be cryptic, it's just a fair assessment based off of the Uruguayan's future in Major League Soccer.
Torres was fantastic in his debut MLS campaign, even if some in the national media didn't quite recognize just how good he was. In 2600 MLS minutes at just 22-years-old, Torres scored nine goals and added 10 assists. That's good for 0.65 goals or assists every 90 minutes.
Orlando's talisman also scored four goals and added two assists in the Lions' succesful US Open Cup run.
This level of immediate production from a player in his early 20s will turn heads. Torres is currently on the fringes of the Uruguayan national team and if he breaks through their, his international profile becomes immense.
Torres will be the record sale for Orlando City when he eventually leaves the club, at this point it feels like a matter of when, not if.
I don't think he'd leave this offseason, it's only been one year on a four-year Designated Player contract. With one more year of development and elite production in MLS, Torres could be sold for a hefty fee next offseason or this upcoming summer transfer window.
This is the reality of where MLS is on the greater world football hierarchy. A good sporting department in this league will find genuinely excellent players, and with wealthy owners, the caliber of players will continue to rise.
But for the foreseeable future, those talents are going to the big leagues in Europe, which means talk like this about star players leaving after one season are an inevitable part of the MLS content ecosystem.
It's about good recruitment, good development and good preparation to replace those star players. Orlando has an increasingly promising academy churning out potential pros, and the first team has signed several prospects over the last year.
This is the way of the future in MLS, so enjoy the star players while they last.