Trades, transfers, free-agent moves – MLS’s offseason “hot stove” keeps roaring as the clock ticks down to MLS is Back weekend (Feb. 22-23), and we’re back to wrap up the week’s wheeling and dealing.
The news can move fast at this time of year, and it’s easy to miss developments, particularly in a league that has now grown to 30 member clubs. Case in point: Mere hours after our last edition was published, Austin FC sold Sebastián Driussi, their highest-paid player and face of the team, to River Plate… and it’s already old news.
Here’s a rundown of the latest:
On Wednesday Charlotte reeled in one of the biggest names of the MLS winter window to date, securing English Premier League veteran Wilfried Zaha as a Designated Player on a season-long loan from Turkish giants Galatasaray.
A day later another shoe dropped in North Carolina, as incumbent DP striker Karol Swiderski returned to Greece in a reported $2 million transfer to Panathinaikos, leaving The Crown with one remaining DP slot to work with if they so desire. This coming and going represents a potent shot in the arm for a CLT attack that scored the joint-fewest goals among last season’s Audi MLS Cup Playoffs participants, as general manager Zoran Krneta acknowledged in welcoming Zaha.
“We have good players, but in the final minutes, we needed the one that will take the ball and do something special. We had 51 points last season. He's the kind of player that's on, what he's on, will give us an extra 12 points, in my opinion, just because he will do something that will win us games all season,” Krneta told Goal.com of the Crystal Palace alum, adding that “this is probably one of the most difficult negotiations I've ever seen.
“It was a complex deal. It took us almost three months behind the scenes.”
Head coach Dean Smith spoke of the “stardust” Zaha brings with his guile and flair on the ball. Can this push an already sturdy Charlotte squad over the top?
Whatever ambition, exposure or buzz was gleaned from the Chicago Fire’s recent outreach to Neymar, The Men in Red got some actual business done this week with the acquisition of winger Jonathan Bamba from Celta de Vigo as a Designated Player, the biggest move to date in Gregg Berhalter’s Windy City rebuilding project.
If the reported $2 million price tag is correct, and rumor has it the rising wage levels in his Celta contract fueled his exit, this could prove a tidy value for the Fire. Bamba’s pacey, direct attacking toolkit looks well-suited for the physicality and openness of MLS, and he arrives at age 28 with a track record of productivity – a descriptor that can also be applied to many of the wingers who’ve worked in Berhalter’s system at Columbus Crew and the US men’s national team.
He’s got a winning pedigree, too. Bamba hoisted the 2023 African Cup of Nations trophy with Cote d’Ivoire and played a key role (alongside Canadian international Jonathan David) in LOSC Lille’s Cinderella run to the 2020-21 Ligue 1 title, the only side in the last seven years to break star-studded Paris Saint-Germain’s dominance of France’s top flight.
With less than a month remaining until their inaugural match, expansion side San Diego FC gathered reporters on Wednesday to unveil their biggest signings since Mexican star Hirving “Chucky” Lozano became the face of the club last June.
US international Luca de la Torre perched on one chair, marking a happy return to his hometown more than a decade after leaving at age 15 to join Fulham’s academy, the central midfielder’s first step in an arduous European adventure that ranged from England to the Netherlands and on to Spain. To his left sat Anders Dreyer, the Danish pocket winger chosen as the bookend to Chucky in head coach Mikey Varas’ projected 4-3-3 shape, not only as an opposite-flank complement on the right wing but a fellow DP, pried away from Belgian aristocrats Anderlecht for a price reportedly in the neighborhood of $5 million.
The Chrome-and-Azul need both to be leaders in every sense, on the pitch and off.
“We have seven players in the front line. All of them have talent, all of them have work ethic. It's going to be a tremendous competition amongst the seven of them,” said Varas.
“Anders is no exception. He's got tremendous quality, left foot, final pass, goal-scoring instinct, combination [play]; he can create space for himself, he can create for others. And most importantly, two things that I really love about him is one, he works for his teammates off the ball in terms of pressing. He's willing to be a warrior in that sense. And also, he wants to get better. He knows that he still has other levels that he can get to.”
Year after year, the Black & Gold side of Los Angeles finds ways to remain a top-tier contender in MLS, adeptly balancing change and continuity. And they’re at it again.
LAFC got younger and deeper this week, and are in essence building an entirely new central-midfield group following the departures of Ilie Sánchez, Lewis O'Brien and Eduard Atuesta ahead of another serious run at Concacaf Champions Cup. First, 21-year-old Brazilian holding midfielder Igor Jesus arrived from Portugal's Estrela Amadora for a fee reported to be in the vicinity of $4 million.
Then came a trade with crosstown rivals LA Galaxy for veteran Mark Delgado, a two-time league champion and proven force multiplier in the engine room who assisted on the game-winning goal in last month’s MLS Cup triumph. The Gs are clearly not thrilled about letting him go, but face urgent salary-budget concerns and showed respect for a loyal servant by allowing him and his family to stay in Southern California.
Thursday brought another trade, this time with FC Dallas for center back Nkosi Tafari, the North Texans’ top defender in recent seasons before falling out of favor in 2024. Take note of longtime FCD outlet 3rd Degree’s take on this transaction: “FCD just traded away their best center back, a position that is a serious problem, for a pittance.”
Then ponder co-president and general manager John Thorrington’s words to media on Wednesday: “We had to make some painful decisions based on [roster] rules [but] if we get everything we want … this will be right up there with maybe the deepest group we’ve had to start a season.”
The sweeping clearout in Dallas continued on Thursday as, a few hours after Tafari’s departure, DP playmaker Alan Velasco completed a big move to Argentine heavyweights Boca Juniors.
GiveMeSport’s Tom Bogert reports that FCD will receive a $10 million transfer fee plus $2 million in add-ons and a 15% sell-on clause, a package that represents a positive return on a player acquired for about $7 million three years ago before a torn ACL in the 2023 playoffs sidetracked his progress. The No. 1 honoree on MLSsoccer.com’s 22 Under 22 list that year, Velasco wrestled with homesickness during his time in Dallas/Fort Worth and was said to be seeking a return home.
As comforting as that healthy ROI on Velasco may be, FCD’s drastic overhaul raises questions about their plans for the upcoming season under new head coach Eric Quill, with four of their leading figures – Tafari, Velasco, his fellow DP Jesús Ferreira and versatile veteran Paul Arriola – shipped out in recent weeks.
