Manny Perez has left Celtic to join Portland Timbers and instantly moved out on loan to Austin.
The defender was part of the disastrous January 2019 Transfer window that was quickly followed by the departure of Brendan Rodgers to Leicester.
Full-back Perez arrived along with Andrew Gutman from US college football with no work permit or obvious pathway into the first team. Marian Shved and Vakoun Bayo were signed on permanent deals at the same time with Oli Burke, Timo Weah and Jeremy Toljan brought in on loan.
None of those signings played in the Champions League qualifiers against Cluj with Bayo the only permanent signing to start a competitive match for Celtic.
Tonight, the Austin website announced:
Austin FC announced today that the Club has acquired 22-year old midfielder Emanuel “Manny” Perez on loan from the Portland Timbers for the 2021 MLS season in exchange for Austin FC’s 2023 natural third-round SuperDraft pick, with the option to trade for the player’s permanent rights at the conclusion of the ’21 season. Additional conditional General Allocation Money (GAM) could be delivered to Portland based on performance benchmarks.
“Manny is a player with great potential who is motivated to make an impact, and we are pleased to welcome him to the Austin FC family,” commented Claudio Reyna, Austin FC Sporting Director.
“I feel blessed and honored to be part of Austin FC,” commented Perez. “I look forward to giving my best on the pitch for our fans, my teammates and coaching staff.”
Perez (pronounced PEH-rehz) was previously with Scottish Premiership side Glasgow Celtic F.C. and was sent on loan to the USL Championship’s North Carolina FC from Celtic for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. With North Carolina FC, Perez made a total of 37 appearances (25 starts), scoring one (1) goal and contributing five (5) assists.
He’s #VERDE now. ?
Austin FC has signed Manny Perez to the 2021 roster.— Austin FC (@AustinFC) April 26, 2021
Since joining Celtic, Perez has been out on loan at North Carolina, while Gutman played in pre-season matches in Austria and Switzerland in July 2019 Perez missed those games through injury.
Going into next season Celtic Greg Taylor is the only full-back with first team experience with that area one of many that will require recruitment following the January transfers of Hatem Abd Elhamed and Jeremie Frimpong. Lee O’Connor will return from his loan season at Tranmere Rovers.