FRISCO, Texas (February 1, 2024) — FC Dallas announced today that the Club has signed 25-year-old Croatian forward Petar Musa to a Designated Player four-year contract through 2027 with a club option for 2028. Musa will occupy an international slot on the roster, pending receipt of his P-1 Visa and International Transfer Certificate (ITC). Musa joins FC Dallas after spending two seasons with Portuguese side S.L. Benfica. Dallas acquired Musa’s Discovery Priority from the New England Revolution in exchange for $100,000 in 2024 General Allocation Money (GAM). The transfer represents the largest acquisition fee in franchise history.
“We've secured a world-class attacker in the prime of his career in Petar,” said FC Dallas Technical Director André Zanotta. “His versatility and proven skills against top-level opponents makes him a formidable addition to our team. Petar's signing marks a historic moment for us.”
Musa joins FC Dallas after spending the last two years at S.L. Benfica of the Primeira Liga, the Portuguese first division. At Benfica, Musa made a total of 66 appearances registering 17 goals across all competitions. This season, Musa has appeared in 25 matches and scored six goals, five of which were scored in the Primeira Liga. Musa helped Benfica win the Primeira Liga in 2022/23 and won the Portuguese Super Cup. Musa scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in Benfica’s dominant 6-1 win against Maccabi Haifa on November 2, 2022. Musa went on to score in the team’s quarter final match against Inter Milan on April 19, 2023.
“Petar is a player of a very high level. I want to thank the owners for being able to bring Petar on board, for the effort that the owners have made in signing him,” said FC Dallas head coach Nico Estévez. “We are looking forward to working with him to help him provide FC Dallas fans with many goals.”
Prior to joining Benfica, Musa spent one season on loan with Boavista FC where he was one of the top goal scorers, netting 11 league goals and tallying 2,597 minutes across all competitions. In 2021, Musa spent half a season on loan with Bundesliga side Union Berlin, appearing 14 times for the German team.
“We’re excited to bring Petar to FC Dallas. His offensive production in the Primeira League illustrates his scoring ability and we're confident he will boost our attack,” said FC Dallas President Dan Hunt. “This landmark signing reflects our commitment to competing at the highest level and he’s going to be a great complement to our talented roster.”
Prior to his time in Portugal and Germany, Musa spent time in the Czech Republic with Slavia Prague, Slovan Liberec and Viktoria Zizkov. With Slavia Prague, Musa finished the 2019/2020 season as the Golden Boot winner by scoring 14 goals. He helped the Prague side win two back-to-back Fortuna Ligas as well as winning the Czech Cup.
Prior to joining Slavia Prague’s youth academy, Musa began his youth career playing for NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac and NK Zagreb youth academies.
A native of Zagreb, Croatia, Musa has represented Croatia at the senior level six times, making his national team debut in a 1-1 draw vs. Wales during the European Qualifiers on March 25, 2023. Musa was also part of the Croatia U21 and U18 setup where he played a combined total of 14 matches.
With the addition of Musa, Dallas now has 35 players under contract for the 2024 season:
Goalkeepers (3): Antonio Carrera, Jimmy Maurer, Maarten Paes
Defenders (10): Herbert Endeley, Marco Farfan, Omar Gonzalez, Sebastien Ibeagha, Geovane Jesus, Sam Junqua, Amet Korça, Nolan Norris, Nkosi Tafari, Ema Twumasi
Midfielders (16): Eugene Ansah, Paul Arriola, Patrickson Delgado, Liam Fraser, Asier Illarramendi, Bernard Kamungo, Sebastian Lletget, Tsiki Ntsabeleng, Isaiah Parker, Paxton Pomykal, Tomas Pondeca, Enes Sali, Tarik Scott, Dante Sealy, Alejandro Urzua, Alan Velasco
Forwards (6): Logan Farrington, Jesús Ferreira, Malik Henry-Scott, José Mulato, Petar Musa, Jesús Jiménez
TRANSACTION DETAILS
- Full Name: Petar Musa (PEh-tur mOO-sAH)
- Connect with Petar: Instagram
- Position: Forward
- Height: 6’2’
- Weight: 185
- Date of Birth: March 4, 1998 (25)
- Birthplace: Zagreb, Croatia
- Nationality: Croatia
- Language Spoken: English, Croatian, Portuguese
- Previous Club: Sport Lisboa e Benfica
Transaction: FC Dallas signed 25-year-old Croatian forward Petar Musa to a four-year Designated Player contract with an option for the 2028 season. Dallas acquired Musa’s Discovery Priority from the New England Revolution in exchange for $100,000 in 2024 General Allocation Money (GAM).
