FC Cincinnati and former NYCFC head coach Dome Torrent had contact over the club's vacant head coach position but those talks didn't progress to a formal interview, MLSsoccer.com has learned. He is not one of the club's final candidates.
Cincinnati are in the final stages of interviews for the position, though with the COVID-19 pandemic, a timeline for when they will appoint a new head coach is fluid. A source adds they will have someone in place whenever MLS begins a mini-preseason before play resumes.
On a video conference chat with media on Wednesday, GM Gerard Nijkamp said the club have narrowed down the process to three final candidates, including one domestic-based coach and two abroad.
FC Cincy have been without a permanent head coach since Ron Jans resigned in mid-February in the wake of an investigation surrounding a complaint made by the MLS Players Association accusing Jans of making "extremely inappropriate comments," less than two weeks before the season started. Yoann Damet has been serving as the interim head coach.
Torrent has been without a job since he and NYCFC mutually agreed to part ways following the 2019 season, in which Torrent led the Cityzens to a club-record regular season and their first-ever berth to the Concacf Champions League.
The longtime assistant of Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City, Torrent was reportedly contacted by several MLS teams this offseason.
After an offseason with a handful of key additions, including Jurgen Locadia, Yuya Kubo, Siem de Jong and Haris Medunjanin, FC Cincy kicked off the season with two losses. Locadia was limited to one start while de Jong has yet to debut, both due to the players waiting to receive visas.
