DIKE PHOTO VIA ORLANDO CITY SC
Daryl Dike (Instagram) is coming home. Orlando City SC is finalizing a deal to bring back American striker Daryl Dike, who will be a free agent after his contract with West Bromwich Albion expires this summer.
The return closes a four-and-a-half-year chapter abroad for the 26-year-old Oklahoma native, who left Orlando in January 2022 while widely considered as one of the most exciting young forwards in MLS. Dike was selected fifth overall in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft and scored 19 goals across all competitions in his two seasons with the Lions, earning MLS Player of the Month honors in August 2020 and six MLS Team of the Week selections.
The sale to West Brom, announced on New Year’s Day 2022, was a record sale for Orlando City at the time. But injuries plagued Dike’s time abroad, limiting him to only 68 appearances in all competitions. He scored 11 goals and added three assists during his time at West Brom, with seven of those tallies coming in the 2022-23 campaign. A serious hamstring injury in early 2023 kept him sidelined for nearly two years. He made his return as a 77th-minute substitute against Millwall on February 15, 2025, and started and scored in his first league game in over two years on May 5, 2025, in a 5-3 win against Luton Town. On May 15, 2026, the club announced he would be released at the end of the season when his contract expired.
The return comes at a moment of significant roster flux for the Lions. Orlando sold forward Duncan McGuire to the Houston Dynamo last week and is integrating new designated player Antoine Griezmann, who scored on his debut in a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
The deal hasn’t been officially confirmed by the club, but everybody’s talking about it.
