Aston Villa reach agreement for Fire wonderkid Durán
Aston Villa have reached a transfer agreement for Colombia international forward Jhon Durán from Chicago Fire FC, the English Premier League club announced Monday.
Duncan returns to New York Red Bulls on loan from Belgian club
The New York Red Bulls have re-signed defender Kyle Duncan on a season-long loan from KV Oostende with a purchase option. The 25-year-old right back joined Oostende last January on a free transfer and made seven league appearances for the Belgian First Division A side before a loan move back to the Red Bulls in August.
New York Red Bulls sign Morgan to contract extension
The New York Red Bulls have signed winger Lewis Morgan to a new MLS contract through the 2025 season with an option for 2026. The 25-year-old Scottish attacker was acquired last winter from Inter Miami CF for $1.2 million in General Allocation Money, finishing as New York’s leading scorer in 2022 with 14 goals and four assists across 32 league games.
Sounders could face Real Madrid
Seattle Sounders FC, the first-ever MLS participant at a FIFA Club World Cup, may face the tournament's most successful team when descending on Morocco in early February. The Rave Green, 2022 Concacaf Champions League winners, learned Friday morning that during their Feb. 4 entrance they’ll encounter either Al Ahly (Africa runner-up) or Auckland City (Oceania winner). Those two clubs start the tournament with a Feb. 1 Round One game, and the winner advances to face Seattle in the Second Round. Should Seattle win in the Second Round, a Semifinal showdown with four-time champions Real Madrid (Europe winner) awaits on Feb. 8. Los Blancos won all but one FIFA Club World Cup title from 2014-18.
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It felt a little quiet this weekend. Kind of like we were building up towards one of the most explosive weeks of the whole offseason, but only building up to it. I’ve got a pretty good feeling about this week offering up some season-defining moves though (prayers for the folks in Atlanta). Until then, we have a few things to address. Starting with…
I won’t act like they’ve really and truly done anything earth-shattering here. But by bringing back right back Kyle Duncan and locking down Lewis Morgan long-term, the Red Bulls have set themselves up for another very Red Bulls season. That’s great news for fans with a keen interest in Energy Drink Soccer and the fate of Sisyphus.
I’m genuinely not trying to be dismissive here. It’s just that I, like pretty much everyone else at this point, don’t know whether to celebrate the Red Bulls run of playoff appearances without a trophy or feel bad about the entire process.
For Red Bulls fans here, you have to be excited about Duncan’s return and Morgan being around for a while. Duncan has been excellent for the majority of his time in MLS, and Morgan has turned into an immediate inclusion when people ask about the league’s most underrated players. Seriously, Morgan is kind of unreal. The 26-year-old spent his first season in MLS being the best player on Inter Miami’s inaugural team, dropped off a bit the next year as the team cratered, then came to Red Bulls and put up 14 goals and four assists last season. Morgan will be torching defenses for the next few years and every time it happens, the folks who don’t read The Daily Kickoff will turn to the person next to them and say “Who the hell is that?”
Most likely anyway. Maybe he gains a little star power as he continues to put up numbers for New York. But it’s kind of a bummer to know he’s going to be tasked with pushing the Red Bull-branded boulder up the mountain for a while. As good as Duncan and Morgan are, it still feels like we’re looking at the same old New York Red Bulls. There’s still time left in the offseason for that to change, but no one is expecting the kind of truly transformative moves or decisions that might lead to New York changing their fate.
There’s nothing wrong with a 14th-straight playoff appearance I guess. And it feels like they helped seal that this weekend. Plus there’s always a chance Cory Burke and Elias Manoel have excellent seasons and New York make it to MLS Cup and my worrying about another good, not great season looks pretty dumb in the end. Like I said, I think Duncan and Morgan are excellent. I also think we probably won’t see the Red Bulls try and truly capitalize on having them around.
So. Uh. Kind of seems like Seattle are about to play Real Madrid. I don’t really have any analysis here. It just felt important to point it out. An MLS team could be about to play Real Madrid and it’s not a part of a cash-grab tour of scrimmages, it’s a part of genuine competition with actual stakes.
First off, this is awesome. Second, this is scary… what if they get boat raced? Third, kind of feels like there’s a good chance this is the first of many of these kinds of appearances?
I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself here. So, real quick, let’s talk about Seattle’s path to face Madrid here. They only have to win one game. And that one game either comes against Al Ahly (Confederation of African Football runner-up) or Auckland City (Oceania winner). It feels likely Al Ahly will make it through there and it feels possible Seattle can pull out a win. That’s not a gimme, of course. Al Ahly are Africa’s most successful team in continental competition and will be eager to get the same opportunity to take down one of the world’s biggest clubs. On top of that, all the normal caveats apply to a Seattle team that will not have played a competitive game before heading to the competition. In fact, the more I think about it, the more my “SEATTLE ARE GONNA TAKE ON THE WORLD” enthusiasm is weakening.
Either way, I think the main focus here should simply be about preparing for an MLS team to be on the world stage in a way they never have before. No matter what happens, this is progress. MLS teams will probably get this chance pretty quickly again. It might even be Philadelphia or LAFC in the same situation next year. Just start preparing yourself for the start of something resembling a trend. And remember Seattle invented MLS teams going to the Club World Cup.
Chicago Fire, winger Ivanov mutually part ways: Chicago Fire FC have mutually parted ways with winger Stanislav Ivanov. The 23-year-old originally joined Chicago ahead of the 2021 season via transfer from Bulgarian club Levski Sofia. A knee injury limited him to one goal and one assist in 26 regular-season games (18 starts) across two seasons.
Portland Timbers bring back striker Fogaça: Nathan Fogaç is back with the Portland Timbers for the 2023 MLS season. They’ve exercised a contract option on the Brazilian attacker and hold a club option for 2024. The 23-year-old originally signed with Portland last May, scoring twice in a 7-2 rout of Sporting Kansas City, his first appearance with the club. Those goals were his only tallies across 11 appearances (four starts).
New England Revolution give Farrell new contract: The New England Revolution have signed defender Andrew Farrell to a contract extension using Targeted Allocation Money (TAM). Farrell’s new deal is for the 2023 MLS season, with two additional option years for 2024 and 2025.
New York Red Bulls sign homegrown midfielder Stroud: The New York Red Bulls have signed homegrown midfielder Peter Stroud through the 2025 MLS season with an option for 2026 and 2027. Stroud, 20, most recently played three seasons at Duke University. Aside from spending time in the RBNY Academy, he also played overseas in England for West Ham United’s youth system.
CF Montréal sign midfielder Iliadis: CF Montréal have signed Toronto-born midfielder Ilias Iliadis to a two-year contract through the 2024 MLS season, with option years for 2025-26. The 21-year-old was last at Greek club Panathinaikos B, scoring twice in 34 games in the Greece Super League 2. He’s also played twice for the Greek U-17 national team.
Sporting Kansas City sign midfielder Flores: Sporting Kansas City have claimed midfielder Danny Flores off waivers and signed him for the 2023 MLS season with options for 2024-26. The 20-year-old former US youth international begins his professional career after a two-year college stint at Virginia Tech. He recorded five goals and five assists across 33 games with the Hokies, placing on the ACC All-Freshman team in 2021.
Colorado Rapids re-sign homegrown defender Edwards: The Colorado Rapids have re-signed homegrown player Michael Edwards through the 2024 MLS season with a club option for 2025. The 22-year-old defender, who joined the Rapids in 2021 after they acquired his homegrown priority from D.C. United, has yet to make his first-team debut.
- The LA Galaxy are eyeing 2-3 "good, sound moves" before the 2023 season starts.
- Atlanta United coach Gonzalo Pineda teased three incoming transfers for Atlanta United.
- Wayne Rooney explained what Leeds United "great" Mateusz Klich offers DC United.
- Gareth Bale said he’ll "never forget" his LAFC experience.
- Tyler Adams was named the 2022 US Soccer Male Player of the Year.
- Tom “O Scooper, Where Art Thou?” Bogert opened up his Insider notebook.
- Matt Doyle answered your questions in part three of his preseason mailbag.
Good luck out there. See things how they’re meant to be seen.
