Seattle Sounders sign de la Vega from Lanús:
Seattle Sounders FC have completed a long-reported move, announcing Wednesday they have acquired Pedro de la Vega from Argentine top-flight side Lanús. The 22-year-old Argentine youth international is under contract through the 2027 MLS season with an option for 2028. Primarily a winger, he will occupy a Young Designated Player roster spot alongside DP midfielder Albert Rusnák and DP forward Raúl Ruidíaz. While at Lanús, de la Vega contributed 17g/14a in 127 all-competition appearances. He's also featured at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2020 Summer Olympics for Argentina.
Portland Timbers defender Bravo out with knee injury
Portland Timbers left back Claudio Bravo will miss the start of the 2024 MLS season due to injury. Bravo recently underwent a successful tendon debridement of his right knee, placing him on a recovery timeline of 10-12 weeks.
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Nine (!) teams have a new manager in charge this season. Y’all know by now our general feelings on how much that actually matters (only a little!), but we figured it’d be a good excuse to check in on the rosters of teams entering 2024 in a moment of transition.
Troy Lesesne - D.C. United
We don’t have any real idea of what Lesesne’s game model will look like in his first post-Red Bulls role. But we do know that D.C. got solid performances from Designated Players Christian Benteke and Mateusz Klich last year. We do know they underperformed their expected points value by nine last year. And we do know that none of those encouraging signs may actually mean anything when D.C.’s roster is stacked up against the rest of an overpowered Eastern Conference.
Still, grabbing Aaron Herrera and Jared Stroud this offseason is some good MLS. There are quality pieces here. If they keep trending in the right direction with a restructured front office, this may feel like the year before the year D.C. put it together and make the playoffs. Maybe they can surprise some folks and get ahead of schedule?
Laurent Courtois - CF Montréal
Can CF Montréal recover from the tactical whiplash? They’ve gone from Wilfried Nancy’s possession-based style to Hernan Losada’s Diet Red Bulls press and back to a game model that will likely be close to Nancy’s. Then again, we don’t know for sure exactly how Courtois will approach his first year in charge of an MLS team.
Either way, there hasn’t been much consistency in Montréal lately. Or… well, ever to be honest. It’s tough to build much that way. And it’s not like you can just slam a button that says “2022” and automatically get the team back to 60 points. Hopefully, Courtois can help get them back on track and trending towards something stronger for the long term. If they can get some of their reported high-dollar moves over the line soon, they’ll at least be moving in the right direction.
??? - Minnesota United
Cameron Knowles is the interim manager. As of now. Well, technically the second interim manager, but still, the interim manager. It is… uh… about a month from the start of the regular season. So………
Hey, at least Bebelo Reynoso is back in training. That’s all you need, right? If Knowles is in charge at the start of the year, he shouldn’t have to do much more than remind everyone to get the ball to Reynoso. That’s worked pretty well the last three years.
Caleb Porter - New England Revolution
Caleb Porter won a title in both of his previous stops. It seems like this Revs roster is maybe one or two pieces away from being at a championship level, but they are close. With a little more stability and a major move or two on the horizon in this window or the next (Alberth Elis???), the Revs seem to be in a decent spot after 2023. Porter really just needs to be a steadying force. They could easily be one of the best teams in the league this year, even if that doesn’t mean they’ll be at the top of the East. Have we mentioned the East is good lately?
Sandro Schwarz - New York Red Bulls
I’ll be honest, it feels like the Red Bulls job drives itself at this point.
Step One → Take Red Bulls job. Step Two → Do… Red Bulls things? Step Three → Oh, wow, look at that, you made the playoffs.
The only time it’s really felt like a Red Bulls manager has truly mattered is when they’ve abandoned what works in key games. As long as someone tells Schwarz about the 2018 Eastern Conference Final, he should be fine. Maybe more than fine with a DP attacker like Emil Forsberg coming in, plus an open DP spot. If the club can finally (finally) find their Bradley Wright-Phillips replacement, they’ll have a high ceiling to accompany their always high floor.
Dean Smith - Charlotte FC
I will personally never recover from the fact that a team in North Carolina found a guy named Dean Smith to lead a sports team. I don’t think that will necessarily be important to Charlotte’s results this season, but it’s not nothing, right? If they add a third Polish international and he just happens to be named Mike Krzyzewski they’ll really be onto something. I mean, it can’t really hurt, right?
What can hurt is a roster that just isn’t up to par with the best in the conference right now. It’s difficult to envision this team taking a step forward this season, especially with DP attacker Karol Swiderski’s future up in the air. Until they start making major moves, Smith is going to have a tall task in front of him.
Chris Armas - Colorado Rapids
Well, he may not have a juggernaut on his hands, but he’ll definitely have the best Rapids roster since 2021 to work with. That’s not nothing. In the West, it could be a lot of something. We’ve talked about it a ton so far this month, but the Rapids are getting set to raise a “Won the Offseason” banner. Armas just needs to make sure new DP Djordje Mihailovic is in the right spot to thrive and the rest should sort itself out. At least partly. There’s definitely still a lot of work to do with this group, but at least they’re putting the effort in.
Phil Neville - Portland Timbers
Let’s be honest. This hire didn’t receive a warm welcome. That means the pressure will be ratcheted up for Neville in year one. Timbers fans will be quick to jump ship if things start going south.
This doesn’t seem like a bad group, though. Adding center back Kamal Miller and goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau should help a ton. They have open DP slots. This could end up being one of the better rosters in the West by the time the window closes. That could go a long, long way.
John Herdman - Toronto FC
I have no idea how to be nice about this. The bar for year one is on the floor. As long as Herdman doesn’t trip over it, that should be considered progress. This year is more about guiding this team through the wilderness than reaching the promised land.
Minnesota United sign midfielder Harvey: Minnesota United FC have signed defensive midfielder Carlos Harvey from USL Championship side Phoenix Rising for an undisclosed transfer fee. Capped four times by Panama, the 23-year-old is under contract through the 2025 MLS season with an option for 2026.
LAFC sign Italian center back Dellavalle: LAFC have signed Italian youth international defender Lorenzo Dellavalle from their MLS NEXT Pro team through the 2026 MLS season with an option for 2027. The 19-year-old center back played in Juventus' youth system before joining LAFC2 last August and appearing in three matches.
FC Dallas re-sign defender Korça: FC Dallas have re-signed defender Amet Korça through the 2024 MLS season with options for 2025-26. Korça, a Texas native, joined Dallas ahead of the 2023 season after spending three-and-a-half years in Croatia's first and second divisions.
Colorado Rapids sign, loan out Cabral: The Colorado Rapids have signed forward Rémi Cabral from their MLS NEXT Pro team. Cabral, who is under contract through the 2024 MLS season with an option for 2025, has also been loaned to USL Championship side Phoenix Rising. The Rapids have a right to recall the 24-year-old Frenchman at any time during the 2024 season.
- Seattle believe they’ve landed a "tremendous player" in Pedro de la Vega.
- Cucho Hernández is chasing even more glory in Columbus.
Good luck out there. Keep your ears open.
