Houston Dynamo signs Ezequiel Ponce as transfer from AEK Athens FC

It appears the Houston Dynamo has found the team’s first-choice forward.

Dynamo signed striker Ezequiel Ponce on a full transfer Monday from AEK Athens to Greece until June 2027 with club options for December 2027 and 2028.

Houston completed the signing of Ponce from AEK Athens for an undisclosed fee that the team called “the highest transfer fee in club history.” The 27-year-old Argentine will be able to make his debut on July 20 in Vancouver, two days after the opening of Major League Soccer’s second transfer window.

“First of all, we would like to thank (owner Ted Segal) for providing us with the support necessary to continue to move this club forward. He remains deeply committed to building a sustainable winner in the city of Houston, and our mission is to turn his vision into reality,” said Dynamo General Manager Pat Onstad. “We conducted an exhaustive, global search for a new starting striker, and Ezequiel was our number one target. He has experience scoring in the biggest competitions in the world, he fits our playing model perfectly, and his character and professionalism are exemplary.

“Most importantly, Ezequiel and his family were very motivated to come to Houston and play an important role in our project. He impressed us at every step of our evaluation process. We are thrilled to have Ezequiel, Martina and their young family joining us in Houston and we hope to achieve great things together.

The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Ponce is coming off his second stint with AEK Athens, where he scored 16 goals in all competitions this season while helping the team finish third in the Greece 1 Super League. In total, Ponce has scored 65 goals and nine assists in more than 200 appearances for Argentina’s Newell’s Old Boys – where he made his professional debut at 16 in 2014 – Italians Roma, Spain’s Granada and from Elche, the French from Lille and the Russian from Spartak Moscow.

Additionally, Ponce has made 13 career appearances in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League. He scored a late winner for AEK Athens in a 3-2 win over Brighton in the Europa League group stage last September.

He will join a Dynamo team that is tied with FC Dallas for the fewest goals in the Western Conference with 20, five more than New England in the Eastern Conference, and is fighting to make the playoffs playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Forward Ibrahim Aliyu currently leads the team with four goals in MLS, followed by midfielders Sebastian Kowalczyk and Latif Blessing with three each. Forward Sebas Ferreira was limited to five regular season appearances and one goal due to injuries.