Duncan McGuire gives Orlando City a striker conundrum | OneFootball

The last sixteenth months have not been an easy ride for Duncan McGuire.

A breakout star in Orlando City's 2023 season, he saw a dream move to the English Championship collapse in January 2024 after a paperwork gaffe rendered his transfer to Blackburn Rovers null and void.

Then, in November's Audi MLS Cup Playoff tie with Charlotte FC, he dislocated his shoulder in a tussle with Djibril Diani to win the penalty that kept the Lions in the game. Having undergone surgery in December, McGuire missed the start of the current campaign, in turn losing his starting spot to an in-form Luis Muriel.

Yesterday's 1-0 home win over the Portland Timbers saw Orlando City match its all-time unbeaten MLS streak of 12 games, and it was McGuire's first league goal of the season that proved the difference. After the Timbers failed to clear their lines, the ball was recycled to Eduard Atuesta who picked out an unmarked McGuire in the box with a clever reverse pass. The Creighton product made no mistake, beating Timbers 'keeper Maxime Crépeau with a powerful effort.

McGuire certainly proved his worth on Saturday, offering the sort of clinical finish that even Muriel is yet to regularly exhibit in purple. However, with the Colombian's current goalscoring exploits and importance to the team's all-round play, McGuire may well struggle to earn enough minutes to recapture the form that saw him score 26 goals in all competitions across his first two seasons.

Oversaturation at striker?

Whilst Saturday saw Lions head coach Óscar Pareja employ a 4-4-2 system with Muriel and McGuire in a strike partnership, this was only a temporary switch to accommodate the need to rest exhausted playmaker Martín Ojeda. When everyone is available, Pareja will revert to his beloved 4-2-3-1, with a double-pivot in midfield and a lone striker.

This spells trouble for McGuire. Unless a change of system is in order, which seems very unlikely given it would be the potential MLS MVP contender Ojeda to give way, Pareja can only choose one man to lead the line. Muriel is finally living up to the hype that surrounded last season's Designated Player switch from Serie A side Atalanta. The Colombian's form has already seen Ramiro Enrique, who emerged as one of the league's hottest attackers at the back end of last season, become a bit-part player in 2025.

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The issue is that Muriel was signed to replace McGuire, as it looked for all the world the young American would depart the club. Orlando only planned on having one of them, meaning the two should not be fighting for minutes as they are currently. On the one hand, having three proven MLS goalscorers vying for one position provides healthy competition - Orlando will never be light in options so long as Muriel, McGuire, and Enrique are at the club.

On the other, it is impossible for a coach to keep all three happy. This season, it has been Enrique who has had to contend with limited minutes from the bench. Now McGuire seems to be fully fit, he may well be left frustrated, too.

Is McGuire's future in Orlando, or elsewhere?

One thing should provide McGuire encouragement: Muriel is not getting any younger. The Colombian is 34, meaning that by the time his contract runs out at the end of the 2026 season, his minutes will likely have been tempered. McGuire is more than good enough to reestablish himself as Orlando's focal point, but he may have to bide his time.

What's more, there's an easy fix that would see two of Muriel, McGuire, and Enrique in Pareja's XI: winger Iván Angulo is struggling, and still yet to score this season. Both Muriel and Enrique are capable of playing on the left, meaning that the out-of-form Angulo should be rested for one of them. Whilst one would still have to wait for their chance from the bench, Orlando's attack could be so malleable. All three can play as a No. 9, and two of them can play on the wing.

If McGuire still dreams of playing abroad, he will need to prove that he can still score consistently in MLS. Like his striking counterpart, and relatively quickly. The 24-year-old is no longer the hotshot rookie who burst onto the scene in 2023. After renewing his Orlando contract last August, potentially keeping him at the club until 2028, interest from England seemingly cooled.

McGuire is a model professional and an absolute pleasure to have at the club for Orlando fans. He is no doubt capable of plying his trade in Europe. Yet, after Blackburn's blunder and through no fault of his own, he is tasked with proving it all over again.