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Brandon Servania pushing for bigger role with FC Dallas after signing contract extension

FCD manager Nico Estévez, who first worked with Servania in the U.S. national team setup, wouldn’t mind seeing Servania play out the contract.

FRISCO — After a superb showing on his 23rd birthday Saturday in a 2-0 win over Nashville, FC Dallas announced Tuesday it wants to keep Brandon Servania around to celebrate a few more trips around the sun.

Servania and the club have agreed to a new deal for at least the next three seasons, FCD announced Tuesday. Servania has been with the organization since joining the academy in 2015 and signing a homegrown deal in 2018.

“It means a lot that the club believes in me and is supporting me in my next steps,” Servania told The Striker Texas on Tuesday. “It’s the club that has provided a lot for me since bringing me in, from the academy to giving me my first chance in MLS. It means a lot that I can look forward to the next few years here and see what we can do. I’m excited.”

While the deal might keep the midfielder in North Texas through 2025, a club option year under the new agreement, it’s hardly a guarantee in the world of soccer. In fact, a long-term contract has often been a harbinger of a move to a bigger club. Ricardo Pepi is the latest example. The forward signed a five-year extension in July 2021 before moving to Augsburg in a record deal in January of this year.

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That gives players like Servania, who want to lift trophies with FCD but also move abroad to test themselves on the biggest stage, the confidence to know if the right offer comes, the team would be open to selling the player — and recouping some of its investment with a transfer fee.

“It’s definitely a good feeling seeing other guys before me being able to make that jump. Right now, I’m obviously just focused on what I can do here, improving as an individual and trying to help the team achieve our goals,” said Servania, who trained with Bayern Munich last winter and spent the first half of the 2021 MLS season on loan in Austria.

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FCD manager Nico Estévez, who first worked with Servania in the U.S. national team setup, wouldn’t mind seeing Servania play out the contract. The coach has utilized Servania in his first three starting XIs and has been rewarded with strong performances, leading up to a superb showing Saturday. Servania’s pass helped draw the penalty FCD used to open the scoring. He also made four recoveries and was unbeaten in duels on the ground and in the air.

“He’s got a very nice profile for the way we want to play,” Estévez said. “Physically, he’s a player who can cover a lot of the field and he’s a player who technically reads the game well, who has quality with his crosses and his shot.

“He’s a very interesting player for the club, the league and I think, above all, for us where he’s helping us with his physical ability but also what he does with the ball.”

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With Edwin Cerrillo playing behind him as the No. 6 and hard-working Paxton Pomykal sharing the midfield with him, Servania is working to use that ability on the ball more often and be more of a factor going forward.

“I feel like I’m getting a little bit more into the attack,” he said. “I think, obviously, trying to get a few stats this year would definitely help but at the end of the day, it’s just looking to help the team in any way I can, whether that’s goals, assists or building out from the back, whatever I have to do to help the team as well I’m going to try to do.”

Servania notched his first counting stat of the season with the pass to set up Alan Velasco’s largely individual goal in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Nashville.

This week, Servania already is back to work on the training ground, hoping to increase that number this weekend against the Portland Timbers and help play a part in at least a few more celebrations.

The Dallas Morning News partners with The Striker Texas to bring coverage of FC Dallas and other notable Texas soccer stories to dallasnews.com. Find more soccer coverage at thestrikertexas.com.

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