A few more jigsaw pieces in San Diego FC's expansion puzzle fell into place on Wednesday, as the MLS newcomers unveiled two signings slated to play a massive role in their 2025 debut campaign, both on and off the field: US international and native son Luca de la Torre and Danish winger Anders Dreyer, the fledgling club’s second Designated Player and the attacking bookend to showpiece DP Hirving “Chucky” Lozano.
“Two players that we have high expectations for here in San Diego, and really excited to get on the grass and started,” sporting director Tyler Heaps told a room full of reporters at the club’s headquarters in the Little Italy district.
“It's no secret that this league is won and lost by difference-makers, and I have no doubt that these two are key difference-makers for us here in San Diego in year one.”
Homecoming hero
In the long run SDFC plan to be an academy-driven organization, with an ambitious vision to recruit the best young talent on either side of the nearby U.S.-Mexico border to their sprawling new training facility and residential complex in the arid foothills on the city’s eastern edge, as well as elite prospects from their sibling clubs in the international network of Right to Dream.
That operation won’t be producing homegrown players for a little while yet, however. So acquiring de la Torre on a year-long loan with a purchase option from LaLiga side Celta de Vigo is not only a potent central-midfield reinforcement, but also a statement of intent about SDFC’s commitment to their roots.
“This is a football region, and when we talk about this region, it's not just the city of San Diego, it's the [metropolitan area’s] 18 communities, it's Baja California, it's Tijuana,” said head coach Mikey Varas. “It's a football-centric community. To bring someone born and raised here, I think is an important message – not only about who we want to be on the field, because he's a fantastic player. He's going to help us connect from buildup into finishing attacks, he's very quick on the dribble; technique, you’re not going to find many midfielders in the league that can rival him, game IQ, just how he moves, how he works for his teammates.
“But on top of that, the biggest message is we have a San Diego homegrown on the team from the beginning.”
De la Torre grew up in North County, attending one year at Torrey Pines High School before moving to London to join Fulham FC’s academy, an opportunity made possible by his father’s Spanish citizenship and the European Union passport that enabled. He spent the next decade grinding in pursuit of his big break across England, the Netherlands and Spain, earning 24 US men’s national team caps and a spot on the 2022 World Cup squad along the way.
Now he’s seized the chance to take part in building something for future generations of San Diego soccer standouts.
“It's something that I didn't really think about before, but it's really special to be able to play for your city where you're from. It's not something that everyone gets the chance to do,” said de la Torre. “I would have loved if this was here 10 years ago, to be honest.
“There's more and more interest in MLS from players in Europe,” he later added. “A lot of my teammates ask me about it all the time, obviously about San Diego being such a great place to live in California. I think that the league is only going to grow. And when I come here, and when I see the facilities and the staff and the professionalism and the investment, to be honest, it's really impressive.”
Dynamic DP
There are both more unknowns and higher expectations around Dreyer, an inverted right winger who’s represented his country at both youth and senior levels, but bounced across Europe early in his career before finding stability and productivity over the past three years at Belgian powerhouse Anderlecht.
With their data-driven approach and the substantial resources of Right to Dream’s global scouting network, San Diego believe the Dane can be a foundational piece not only in terms of productivity, but also entertainment.
“From recruitment and scouting, look, there were many players in the list. I think what's developed from Anders is his ability to impact the game in different ways,” said Heaps. “He can play with his left, he can play with his right, he can be that inside winger that we were looking for. But also, he's in the prime age of his career.
“I mean, at 26 years old, we still think he has a tremendous amount of growth still to come. But also he's ready to hit the ground running. So it was a number of different factors that go into it, and then comes the budget and everything else. But we think we landed on a player that can really impact and excite the crowd here.”
Varas spoke of Dreyer’s capacity for further growth in MLS, and the player himself agreed.
“When I heard about the project and new club, San Diego, I was convinced that it was something I would love to join,” he said. “It was an easy choice to go over here. And like Mikey says, that makes myself a better player. I believe I have next level in my game, and that's something I think I can achieve here, to be even better.”
