The MLS summer transfer & trade window opens today (for American teams, anyway; it popped open for the Canadian trio last week), which means silly season is officially here.
With that in mind, I’m offering you a primer on all 29 teams’ needs, as well as the high-leverage roster mechanisms – Designated Player slots and U22 Initiative slots – each team has on hand to use.
Note: The restrictions on U22 slot usage just unwinded a bit. Every team now has access to all three U22 slots, no matter the status of their DPs. There are also different roster-building models teams can pursue, giving them more resources.
Western Conference today, Eastern Conference was yesterday. In we go:
Top Priority: A young center forward
- Open DP slots: Potentially 1
- Open U22 Initiative slots: 2
The Verde & Black have already been busy, with DP winger Osman Bukari and a pair of defenders – one center back and one right back – inked and ready to go as soon as this weekend. They also mutually parted ways with Moussa Djitte, which is not something you’d do if you weren’t planning to use both open U22 slots.
My guess is one of those will be on a young No. 9, since the two guys currently on the depth chart at that spot are both over 30, and neither is really lighting it up (Gyasi Zardes and Diego Rubio have combined for 7g/2a in about 2,400 minutes this season).
The other open U22 slot could be used basically anywhere except goalkeeper and it’d make sense to me. This roster needs an almost complete overhaul, and I think we’ve seen the first steps to that end taken.
Top Priority: Left back depth
- Open DP slots: 0
- Open U22 Initiative slots: 2
A season-ending core injury to Jackson Travis has left the Rapids thin behind Sam Vines, so that’s something I’d expect them to address – though not with those open U22 slots.
EDIT: I had wrong info about Travis, who is out shorter term with a groin injury. Thanks to Brendan Ploen of the excellent BurgundyWave for the pro bono edit. So let's scratch left back off a "needs" list for the Rapids.
With those, I’d expect them to add a young center back. Whether they get a Godfather offer for Moise Bombito this window or next, it’s clearly coming, and with that, they’ll have an opening on their depth chart for a young, high-upside CB they can hopefully develop into the next Bombito.
There are not many holes elsewhere, though the goalkeeper situation is not as good in reality as it looks on paper. I doubt they address it this summer, though.
One other possible U22 usage that intrigues me: I’m sure the Rapids have taken note of RSL’s success with signing Diego Luna and Fidel Barajas out of USL. Left winger Bryce Jamison or d-mid Matthew Corcoran – both teenagers – are two players who are probably on MLS radars.
Top Priority: Central midfield and center back
- Open DP slots: 0
- Open U22 Initiative slots: 0
FC Dallas’ season has been more or less wrecked due to various injuries, to the point where they just need warm bodies to fill some spots – especially in the two places mentioned above. There is an unnamed central midfielder already on his way, and while nothing has been reported yet regarding any center backs, I’ll be surprised if there’s not one new addition there as well.
Here, finally, is some good news:
A healthy Alan Velasco and Jesús Ferreira for the stretch run is better than any potential signings they could make. And, it should be noted, this team is playing better under interim manager Peter Luccin.
Maybe this season’s not dead yet.
Top Priority: Goal-scoring left winger
- Open DP slots: Potentially 1
- Open U22 Initiative slots: 0
Here’s the order of operations:
- Manager Ben Olsen exiles DP No. 9 Sebastián Ferreira.
- Houston shop for and sign Ferreira’s replacement, Ezequiel Ponce.
- Ferreira returns from injury and earns a few starts up top.
- Ferreira produces like a true DP.
- Olsen praises Ferreira, but says he won’t start Ferreira and Ponce together.
- Houston go into the summer window with an extra DP center forward.
It is good to have depth at key positions. It is not good to have a DP – by definition one of the three highest-value players on the team – as merely a depth piece.
I still think the smartest thing Houston could do this window is to shop Ferreira within the league. Could they get $2 million in allocation cash for him? Philly, Austin, St. Louis, RBNY… those are all teams that could use a proven goalscorer, and while Sebas isn’t prime Josef Martínez, he’s got 19g/5a in 3,400 minutes across all comps for the Dynamo. And good underlyings to boot.
Which is to say that he looks like a starter to me.
Related: Houston have been linked with German attacker Lawrence Ennali who is – you guessed it – a goal-scoring left winger.
The pieces are falling into place, right? The Dynamo have one of the best midfields in the league, with an excellent defense and goalkeeper to boot.
They are one attacking piece away.
EDIT: Turns out Ennali is a U22 signing. Maybe he'll be the final piece they need, and Sebas will finish the year as depth:
Top Priority: Midfield and backline depth
- Open DP slots: Potentially 1
- Open U22 Initiative slots: 0
LAFC could buy down Eduard Atuesta and add another starting central midfielder, but I don’t think they’ll do that, nor do I think they should, as their current central midfield trio of Atuesta, Timothy Tillman and Ilie Sánchez has been one of the best in the league so far.
Instead I kind of wonder if they’ll just keep Francisco Ginella. Remember him? He was supposed to be the next Atuesta but, uh, he was maybe not as committed defensively as he should’ve been:
He’s back (sorta) after a looooong loan down in Uruguay. I don’t know if he’ll stick around, but as a break-in-case-of-emergency sub for the stretch run, you could probably do worse. And with Mateusz Bogusz and young Tommy Musto now in the central midfield rotation, Steve Cherundolo’s got more options than he did a month ago.
I buried the lede, of course: Bogusz is in the central midfield rotation now because Olivier Giroud is arriving sometime in the next few weeks, and Giroud is the new starting No. 9. Kei Kamara is his back-up, and Nathan Ordaz is in there somewhere as well.
Bogusz has done really nice work this year as a false 9, but my hunch is he’s now competing for minutes with Cristian Olivera on that right wing while also being the primary backup for Atuesta and Tillman.
What I’m saying is LAFC’s work is mostly done, I think. They could probably add another young center back just in case, but we’re talking about a fifth-string guy, not a starter.
Top Priority: The Marco Reus announcement
- Open DP slots: 0
- Open U22 Initiative slots: 1
The Galaxy are about to unveil one of the best attacking midfielders of the past decade as their new signing – on a TAM deal. Such is the power of a select few markets (Miami and New York being the others) that they can land players with that kind of résumé on a non-DP deal.
Reus gives them depth* across the “3” line of Greg Vanney’s 4-2-3-1, and maybe even at center forward as he’s operated a bit as a false 9 throughout his career. That’s an area of need, as the Galaxy have been poor when Dejan Joveljic hasn’t been available.
*Yes, I think Reus is here as a depth piece rather than a starter. My hunch is he’ll play as a 35-minute super-sub every week, though perhaps that changes in big games.
They do need a proper backup to Joveljic, though, as Miguel Berry hasn’t quite cut it. And that’s where the open U22 slot could/should come in.
Another center back also couldn’t hurt.
Top Priority: Fix the midfield and backline
- Open DP slots: 1, potentially 2
- Open U22 Initiative slots: 1
Even with Emanuel Reynoso gone and Teemu Pukki injured/underperforming (Minnesota have a club option on him for 2025 which, yeah, I’m not expecting them to exercise) the Loons have a lot of firepower. Robin Lod’s been awesome, as has Tani Oluwaseyi; Sang-Bin Jeong has taken a step forward, and Bongi Hlongwane has been good in spurts when healthy. English left winger Samuel Shashoua is inbound on a free.
So the attack is solid, and potentially more than that if Shashoua is very good. The problem is that everything between those guys and goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair is questionable.
The good news is there aren’t a lot of big or long deals on the books for the Loons. I would expect to see a lot of new starters up the spine added between this window and the next.
EDIT: Kelvin Yeboah is, apparently, on the way as a DP attacker. Which… doesn’t make a ton of sense from my vantage point. I guess we’ll see.
Top Priority: Fullback depth, I think?
- Open DP slots: Potentially 1
- Open U22 Initiative slots: 0
Portland provisionally moved veteran No. 9 Felipe Mora into a DP slot as a bit of roster arbitrage and Mora has responded by… performing like a DP. He’s got 11g/4a in 1,240 minutes this year, and undeniable chemistry with Jonathan Rodríguez, Santi Moreno and Evander. It’s been assumed since the winter that Portland would bring in a new DP No. 9, but why mess with what’s working? This has been one of the best attacks in the league, and as a result they’ve been one of the hottest teams in the league for the past two months.
Is something similar happening in central midfield? It’s long been thought that Eryk Williamson was on the trade block, but he’s been awesome the past few weeks – first as a sub, then, in the past two games, as a starter.
If Williamson can stay healthy, he’s a perfect fit next to the ageless Diego Chara. We have data going back a half-decade on that, and I wouldn’t be in any rush to break that duo up if I were Portland’s front office.
There’s depth at center back and goalkeeper, and young David Ayala is finally getting real minutes in central midfield. There’s depth at winger and up top, too.
The only spot on the roster that’s thin is fullback, where they are one injury away from a crisis. Going shopping in the USL for a player like Aedan Stanley makes some sense to me.
Top Priority: Get a high-level No. 10
- Open DP slots: Potentially 2
- Open U22 Initiative slots: 0
CSO Kurt Schmid has done a fantastic job of adding talent just about everywhere, and manager Pablo Mastroeni has done a fantastic job of rotating and developing that talent, even in the face of significant injury issues (Pablo Ruiz, man – I hope that guy can stay healthy next year).
The one thing that stands between RSL and a place amongst the MLS elite is a top-level, match-winning No. 10. The current No. 10, Matt Crooks, would then become one of the league’s best super-subs.
RSL have said not to expect a record-breaking transfer, which would mean something less than the reported $6 million they spent on Chicho Arango. But that’s not as prohibitive as it sounds, as each of the past three MVPs – Lucho Acosta, Hany Mukhtar and Carles Gil – cost $3 million or less.
Top Priority: Find a midfield ball-winner
- Open DP slots: 0
- Open U22 Initiative slots: 3
If you’re dead last in the Shield race, then you have a bunch of top priorities. But the big one for the Quakes right now is either remind Carlos Gruezo of what his main job is, or get someone in to do that job for him. Gruezo has been massively disappointing given how high his level was in his first MLS stint, as well as during his time in Germany and with Ecuador’s national team.
The entire backline needs examination as well, and goalkeeper has been an open wound all season. That said, with both Daniel and JT Marcinkowski expected to be back in 2025, I’m not sure there’s anything lined up for that spot (nor, I guess, should there be).
I actually like San Jose’s attacking pieces, though Jeremy Ebobisse probably only has the next three months to prove he should be part of the group going forward.
Anyway, on a team that’s been this bad, I don’t think anybody’s job is safe.
Top Priority: Stop getting red cards
- Open DP slots: 0
- Open U22 Initiative slots: 1
As Oshan explains in the next tweet, Seattle “are -7 GD in 145 minutes playing down at least one player.”
Jordan Morris has made the No. 9 role his own, and as long as Raúl Ruidíaz is good with spending the final few months of his Seattle tenure as a super-sub, then this is a position of depth and quality. The development of guys like Obed Vargas, Josh Atencio, Reed Baker-Whiting and Paul Rothrock has given this team depth basically everywhere else.
And now, with Pedro de la Vega finally getting healthy, I think we’ll finally get to see what a full-strength version of the Sounders looks like in Leagues Cup (de la Vega will be starting at left wing with Albert Rusnák as the No. 10).
So from a team-building and a financial perspective, I don’t think it makes sense for this team to do anything this summer unless a too-good-to-pass-it-up deal falls in their lap.
Ruidíaz comes off the books this winter, and guys like Vargas and Léo Chú might be sold. That’s when the big deals will come.
Craig Waibel deserves a lot of credit for weathering the storm.
Top Priority: Sell Alan Pulido
- Open DP slots: Potentially 2
- Open U22 Initiative slots: 0
Pulido followed up his 14g/3a contract year push with this, uh, significantly less impressive 4g/3a season thus far. He’s been significantly outplayed by understudy and heir Willy Agada, who has 19g/4a in about 2,700 regular-season minutes across the past two years.
Moving on from the 33-year-old former Mexican international should be the first and biggest step in the multi-window rebuild ownership has already talked about. There are two other DP spots they can open up as well by buying down Dániel Sallói and Nemanja Radoja, and I’m sure they will if the right deal comes along.
But yeah, the Pulido move was cursed from the start. If they can find a “get out of jail FREE!” card, they’ve got to take it.
Top Priority: Get more talent in
- Open DP slots: Potentially 2
- Open U22 Initiative slots: 2
St. Louis’ front office has already done a lot of work, with four outbound players (AZ Jackson, Isak Jensen, Sam Adeniran and Nikolas Dyhr) countered by three incoming:
- D-mid Jake Girdwood-Reich, who takes a U22 slot.
- Forward Cedric Teuchert, who’s probably a starter alongside João Klauss (if Klauss can ever get healthy) up top.
- Central midfielder Marcel Hartel, who is probably another starter.
I’m not sure how these pieces fit together, exactly. Hartel might be a playmaking left attacking mid in the 4-2-2-2 shape I think this group wants, while Girdwood-Reich is the true d-mid deeper in midfield next to Eduard Löwen? Or maybe Girdwood-Reich will play at center back with Chris Durkin keeping the d-mid spot.
The elephant in the room is the status of Klauss, who, as mentioned, is always hurt. And when he hasn’t been hurt, he’s largely been ineffective since his hot start, with just 10 goals in his past 33 appearances across all competitions, which isn’t good enough for a starting No. 9.
Also, it turns out the significant overseas interest in Adeniran was simply across the country. He was dealt to the Philadelphia Union for up to $450k of allocation cash on Thursday.
Also a priority: finding a permanent head coach following the dismissal of Bradley Carnell. I’ve spoken to folks who think interim John Hackworth will get a real shot at winning the job, though with just three points from four matches and a pair of 4-1 losses before falling 2-0 at Seattle in their last outing, things haven’t gotten off to a flying start.
Top Priority: One more elite attacker
- Open DP slots: 1
- Open U22 Initiative slots: 1
Vancouver were a very good team last year with Brian White leading the line and Ryan Gauld pairing him up top in a 3-5-2, with a “playmaker by committee” approach out of central midfield.
Vancouver are a very good team this year with Brian White leading the line and Gauld dropping in to be more of a true No. 10 in a 3-4-1-2, with a “second forward by committee” approach in pairing White up top.
Gauld’s flexibility, in other words, gives manager Vanni Sartini flexibility in how he lines his team up. And White has been a consistent goalscorer for half a decade.
But however you line this group up, the simple fact is that, over the past years, they have been one elite piece short whenever they’ve faced the best in the region.
They have an open DP slot, and with that they can either go out and get themselves a true No. 10, pushing Gauld back up top alongside White, and let that group cook. Or they could drop Gauld in as the No. 10, as he’s been doing the past two months, and get a DP second forward to play alongside White instead.
There are two paths open to them. If they’re serious about winning, they’ve got to take one of them.
