Free Headers: Dominik Fitz goes to Austria, Maurice Malone arrives from Austria, Duggan and Diaz extend contracts (not in Austria)

There is less than a week to go until the end of the transfer window, and Loons moves have begun happening - in both directions.

Minnesota announced this week that they'd loaned midfielder Dominik Fitz to Wolfsberger AC, back in Fitz's native Austria. Wolfsberger has an option to buy Fitz at the end of the loan, in May of next season.

It seems likely that this will close the book on Fitz's time with Minnesota, a career that just never really got going, after he came over in last summer's transfer window. There was never any hint that Fitz was a malcontent or difficult in any way, but first Eric Ramsay and then Cameron Knowles basically did not pick him for their teams, not even when they seemed short on attacking options. That likely tells you everything you need to know about where he ultimately fell in the Loons pecking order.

Fitz had never played for a team besides Austria Wien, his hometown club, and so coming to Minnesota represented a major leap. He's hardly the first player to fail to settle on his first trip to the other side of the world, but for a guy that was signed on a TAM (i.e., more-than-max-salary) deal, he represents the most expensive miss of Khaled El-Ahmad's now-ended tenure as Minnesota chief soccer officer.

Other El-Ahmad signings - Victor Eriksson and Matúš Kmeť, to name two higher-profile ones - failed to make an impact for Minnesota, but none that came with the financial commitment of Fitz. He's probably the most significant counterweight to some of the good signings from El-Ahmad's tenure, like Joaquín Pereyra and Jefferson Diaz.

Wolfsberg appears to be about a three-hour drive from Vienna, so it's not exactly a homecoming for Fitz, but at least he's back in his home country. And he's not having to train with MNUFC2 to get competition, either.

Of course, who knows; Fitz has a contract through 2029, with a team option for 2030, so it's always possible that we'll see him back in Minnesota for the beginning of 2027-28.

Maurice Malone heads in other direction from Fitz

In the other direction, the Loons announced that they have signed forward Maurice Malone, from Sturm Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga.

Malone is German-American, played for the German youth national teams, and has been all over the Germanic countries, playing for clubs in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria - including alongside Fitz with Austria Wien. He came up through the FC Augsburg youth system in Germany, and like so many other well-known German-American players, his dad is an American serviceman.

"I think what you'll see in Maurice is workrate [and] an ability to really defend high up the field as an attacking player to continue to apply pressure," said Loons interim chief soccer officer Hank Stebbins. "You'll see size and power, strength - and Sturm Graz is an excellent club. He's coming from an excellent club, a high-level environment, and he's transitioned previously from other clubs. He's been around, so we expect the transition to be smooth."

Malone just turned 26, and his stats admittedly don't jump off the page. His best season was 2024-25, when he scored 11 goals for Austria Wien - finishing one behind Fitz, who scored 12. But while Fitz never found a good role with the Loons, Minnesota will always have space for high-workrate forwards who can lead the press.

In terms of integration, it is slightly a shame that Fitz was headed back to Austria, just as a former teammate happened to be coming in.

Duggan, Diaz sign up to anchor Loons defense

When you play three center backs every week, it's probably good to have as many of them locked up for as long as possible.

This week, the Loons announced that they'd signed both Morris Duggan and Jefferson Diaz to long-term contract extensions. Duggan's runs through 2029-30, Diaz's goes through 2030-31, and both have the more-or-less-standard team option year on the end.

This represents about the fifth year in a row that I've wondered when Michael Boxall would decide to call it quits, so I'm going to just give up and say that Duggan and Diaz should fit quite nicely on either side of Boxall for the next three and a half seasons, if not more.

The pair are both closing in on their 26th birthdays, so - especially for center backs - these look like smart extensions for two very solid players who are about to enter their prime years.