Players have reported to camp this week as preseason has officially begun across the league. You can jump on the social media platform of your choice and see clips of your dudes jogging, joking and hopefully not sporting too many extra pounds from the holidays.
Rosters around the league, naturally, are in various states of disrepair. Consider this a primer on the state of things, and a look at the biggest issue each front office has to address.
East today, West was yesterday. In we go:
- DP slots: 1/3 - Alexey Miranchuk
- U22 slots: 1/3 - Edwin Mosquera
- Available GAM (as of 12/19): $6,503,478
So far, the biggest news of the offseason has been the addition of D.C. United DP midfielder Mateusz Klich, who the Five Stripes were able to get on a non-DP deal. I’m not sure Klich’s an every-game starter at this point in his career, but he’s exactly the kind of reliable, veteran ball progressor who can add high-level minutes across multiple competitions. Really good work getting him on the cheap (D.C. are eating most of his salary).
Biggest Transfer Need
You may have, um, also heard they’re after a DP forward of some sort. The latest reporting is they’re in for Middlesbrough forward Emmanuel Latte Lath, in what would be a league-record deal of around $20m.
Lath’s goalscoring record is impressive. His underlying numbers are very good, bordering on excellent. He’s the right age. He has the right physical tools. It’d be an exciting signing.
They’ll still have an open DP slot once they get the Lath deal across the finish line (assuming they do), and honestly, what they do with that one is what’s most intrigued me about this team this winter. We’ve known they were going to get a No. 9 – that was obvious. What’s less obvious is whether they’re going to add another DP winger with the other open slot, or if they saw enough of Miranchuk as a No. 10 to rethink his role.
To me, Miranchuk looked much more effective operating in the right half-space as a playmaking winger. Move him to the right wing, Saba Lobjanidze to the left wing, and bring in a true DP 10, maybe? That’s where I’d be leaning if I was doing the roster build for this team.
EDIT: Of course this column went live an hour before Tom broke the Miguel Almiron news.
- DP slots: 2/3 - Liel Abada, Karol Swiderski
- U22 slots: 3/3 - Nikola Petković, Idan Toklomati, Kerwin Vargas
- Available GAM (as of 12/19): $2,976,404
The only big move so far this offseason is getting Pep Biel – who was on loan as a DP during the second half of 2024 – back permanently on a non-DP deal. Biel makes a lot of sense at that number and fills in on the depth chart both as a No. 10 and as a playmaking right winger (where he played primarily under Dean Smith).
Biggest Transfer Need
Is the cash-based internal trade system what they need to happen to finally part ways with Swiderski? The Pole is a good player who makes a lot of sense for any team that plays with two up top, and over the past couple of years there are suddenly more of those dotting the MLS landscape (pro tip: wingers are expensive, wingbacks are cheap; if you’re trying to ball on a budget, maybe think about playing without any wingers!).
Finding a way to move on from him is probably job No. 1, but irrespective of that, they need to go out and get a DP No. 10 who fits Smith’s game model better than the relatively stationary Biel does. Some fullback depth wouldn’t hurt, either.
- DP slots: 1/3 - Hugo Cuypers
- U22 slots: 2/3 - Brian Gutiérrez, Federico Navarro, Leonardo Barroso
- Available GAM (as of 12/19): $2,931,721
The Fire made two of the best moves of the winter thus far in signing Jack Elliott via free agency and finally, mercifully parting ways with Gastón Giménez. They have upgraded other spots, as well, with what look to be shrewd signings, and got a local kid with the No. 3 pick in the SuperDraft to fill out the No. 9 depth chart.
I like that they kept Navarro, by the way. He has talent.
Biggest Transfer Need
New head coach/CSO Gregg Berhalter has made it clear he wants this to be a quick turnaround, and as any sentient Fire fan will tell you, the core of this team’s problems over most of the past 15 years has been underperforming DPs.
They have two spots open. They need a playmaker and a high-level winger. Could Gaëtan Perrin, who’s been good in Ligue 1 this year and was dominant in Ligue 2 last year, be the answer for that second need? Seems like it’s a decent bet.
Regardless, they have an owner who spends. Expect the Fire to be in the headlines a lot in the coming weeks.
EDIT: The Barroso signing initially snuck past me. Expect him to start at right back.
- DP slots: 3/3 - Luciano Acosta, Kévin Denkey, Obinna Nwobodo
- U22 slots: 0/3
- Available GAM (as of 12/19): $4,225,000
As I’m writing this, Denkey remains the league’s record signing. That might no longer be true by the time this column is published.
Still, the need for a No. 9 was the offseason’s top priority, and it’s been addressed.
Biggest Transfer Need
The new top priority is sorting through the Lucho Acosta situation. The 2023 league MVP said after the season he wants out, and has spent most of the winter playing footsie with Boca Juniors in the Argentine press. Even Boca’s reported eight-figure move for FC Dallas’s Alan Velasco hasn’t stopped the discourse, and Lucho – as is his wont – dumped kerosene on the fire by not showing up to Cincy’s preseason on time. Or, as of this writing, at all.
I thought they’d have sorted this out by now, but it’s officially at the point where I’m convinced Lucho will be wearing some other team’s colors soon. That means Cincy’s got to go out and find a new playmaking hub to build around, while also addressing left wingback and some backline depth issues.
Bear in mind Nwobodo can be bought down from his DP slot, so they could technically add a new DP even if fences with Lucho are mended.
- DP slots: 3/3 - Cucho Hernández, Darlington Nagbe, Diego Rossi
- U22 slots: 1/3 - Marino Hinestroza
- Available GAM (as of 12/19): $3,173,205
Haven’t done much, though I want to point out I absolutely love love love the Lassi Lappalainen move. This guy has real talent and, like so many others, showed the absolute best of it while playing under Wilfried Nancy in Montréal.
For a team that ran out of gas because they played 50 games in 36 weeks last year, he’s a perfect depth piece.
Biggest Transfer Need
They can buy down Nagbe’s DP hit and add another DP central midfielder – preferably someone who’ll cover every blade of grass and win the ball all over the field like Aidan Morris did before he was sold mid-season. Sean Zawadzki is very good (and to be fair to him, he played the final quarter of the season and the playoffs with a cracked rib and punctured lung), but he wasn’t that.
Also looming: will they get a godfather offer for Cucho from one of the Liga MX or Brazilian giants? That’d put a wrench in the works.
- DP slots: 2/2 - Christian Benteke, Mateusz Klich
- U22 slots: 2/4 - Theodore Ku-Dipietro, Gabriel Pirani
- Available GAM (as of 12/19): $3,383,240
My understanding is Matti Peltola is no longer a DP, but Klich – who’s been traded to Atlanta – is. It’s a strange roster build, but CSO Ally Mackay deserves a few more windows to unwind the previous regime’s mistakes before we judge too harshly.
The sale of Matai Akinmboni will have upped the GAM available, as will the presumed 2/4/2 construction.
Biggest Transfer Need
I’m a big Ku-DiPietro guy, and Jared Stroud has been a useful MLS attacker throughout his career. As for Pirani, he climbed from the first percentile among attacking mids in expected assists to the 21st percentile last year. Progress!
My point is this team doesn’t create chances at a high level. Now, Troy Lesesne’s press is supposed to take care of a big chunk of that – the press is the best playmaker, remember – and Aaron Herrera at right wingback is a consistent provider of end product.
But still. Top-end, attacking quality is necessary to win in this league. They need an infusion.
- DP slots: 2/2 - Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets
- U22 slots: 4/4 - Tomás Avilés, Benjamin Cremaschi, Facundo Farías, Federico Redondo
- Available GAM (as of 12/19): $3,300,159
The Herons made two of the biggest moves of the offseason in selling Diego Gómez to Brighton & Hove Albion (that’ll net them another $3m GAM) and grabbing another $2.5m GAM (split between 2025 and 2026) in trading center forward Leo Campana to the Revs.
They also let eight players walk (including some high-salaried guys), so they’ve got a lot of flexibility to work with. Some – though probably not all that much – will have been taken up via the Fafà Picault free agency signing (a good move IMO).
Biggest Transfer Need
Reports are they’re about to sign Telasco Segovia, a young, Venezuelan central midfielder who’s like an 8.5, more than a pure 8 or pure 10.
I can’t knock that, but from where I sit, getting a true No. 9 backup to replace Campana and getting a starting CB remains the biggest needs for this team. For the first of those needs, I’m guessing this is their man:
Allende is more of a winger than a center forward, but he is, also, a center forward.
Given their GAM haul this offseason, as well as the cap room created by parting ways with Campana, Sergii Kryvtsov, Franco Negri, Matías Rojas et al, they absolutely should have the room to add him and Uruguayan center-back Maxi Falcón, which is being heavily reported in the Chilean press.
- DP slots: 1/2 - Giacomo Vrioni
- U22 slots: 3/4 - George Campbell, Sunusi Ibrahim, Jalen Neal
- Available GAM (as of 12/19): $2,948,106
It’s not clear if Vrioni, who was acquired last week in a trade with the Revs, will occupy a DP slot. Right now all we know is New England are eating a part of the Albanian No. 9’s cap hit – but not so much that they couldn’t open a DP slot of their own.
From a roster-building perspective, it would make sense, from where I sit, for Montréal to use a DP slot of their own on whatever part of Vrioni’s deal they ended up with on their books. Until I hear otherwise, that’s what I’m going to assume will happen.
Biggest Transfer Need
Even after the Jalen Neal trade they only have four center backs. That’s probably not enough to get through an entire season.
Deep central midfield is similarly thin, though that’s probably more by design, as it opens up playing time for 18-year-old academy product Alessandro Biello and Hermann Trophy winner Michael Adedokun.
We all know this team’s not about to go shopping. It’s fun to watch them build with what they perceive to be undervalued pieces with upside.
- DP slots: 3/3 - Hany Mukhtar, Sam Surridge, Walker Zimmerman
- U22 slots: 1/3 - Patrick Yazbek
- Available GAM (as of 12/19): $2,512,683
Nashville addressed their biggest need – midfield ball progression – in trading for MLS Cup presented by Audi MVP Gastón Brugman. They’re hoping that Yazbek and newly acquired Norwegian Edvard Tagseth can also do some of that lifting.
Biggest Transfer Need
If, as expected, this team plays a single pivot (Brugman) 4-3-3, they are short of bodies in central midfield and probably short of talent on the wings. There is also a question of Mukhtar’s best fit – he’s not a winger (though I don’t hate the idea of playing him inverted on the left), and he’s not a free No. 8.
I do wonder if this is going to revert to a more standard 4-2-3-1 with Hany as the No. 10 underneath Surridge. I still think that can work just fine.
However head coach BJ Callaghan spins it, a talent infusion on the wings is necessary and is, I assume, where one of those open U22 slots will be spent.
- DP slots: 2/3 - Tomás Chancalay, Carles Gil
- U22 slots: 1/3 - Luca Langoni
- Available GAM: $5,585,931
The Revs rebuilt their central defense with the additions of Mamadou Fofana, Brayan Ceballos and Wyatt Omsberg, have steadily rebuilt their central midfield over the past two windows (I’m eager to see if Noel Buck can bounce back from 2024’s myriad disappointments), and spent a ton of GAM (which they’d already accrued even before selling Esmir Bajraktarević to PSV) to get Leo Campana as their No. 9.
As head coach Caleb Porter said this week, “We had good players here…they just didn't happen to be the right players, once we got in here. They're still good players, but now we have the right players. Now this is my team. These are my players. I've picked them, & I'm confident in the blueprint.”
Biggest Transfer Need
They seem to have a mix of depth and top-end talent everywhere, with right back the next spot targeted for upgrading (via one of those open U22 slots).
Another center forward and another central midfielder? That probably makes sense, though we’re most likely talking about depth pieces at this point.
A big question to ponder: do they use that open DP slot this winter, or sit on it until the summer window and make a potential upgrade for the stretch run?
- DP slots: 2/3 - Santiago Rodríguez, Thiago Martins
- U22 slots: 3/3 - Julián Fernández, Jovan Mijatović, Agustín Ojeda
- Available GAM (as of 12/19): $3,285,135
It’s mostly been a quiet-ish offseason for the Pigeons, who signed a couple of homegrowns and re-signed veteran playmaker Maxi Moralez. But things picked up over the past two weeks, first with James Sands’ loan to Bundesliga side St. Pauli and then with reports that standout goalkeeper Matt Freese has attracted European interest.
Oh, and in the midst of that, they hired a new head coach: former AZ Alkmaar boss Pascal Jansen.
Biggest Transfer Need
With Sands’ departure, d-mid is suddenly a position of need, as I think the holdovers (Justin Haak, more of a CB; Andrés Perea, more of a No. 8) are better suited for other spots, and youngster Jacob Arroyave ain’t ready.
Will they go out and spend on a DP slot? I find that unlikely, though that would be the surest way to elevate what was a good team last year into true contender status.
The only other spot to keep an eye on is left back, where homegrown youngster Christian McFarlane might be off to Man City for good, or might yet stay around his hometown club for a bit.
Really, though, this coming year is down to Jansen. He’s got to get more out of that batch of U22s than previous head coach Nick Cushing managed.
- DP slots: 3/3 - Emil Forsberg, Dante Vanzeir, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting
- U22 slots: 2/3 - Noah Eile, Dennis Gjengaar
- Available GAM (as of 12/19): $3,879,130
They added over 400 games of Bundesliga experience between Choupo-Moting and veteran CB Alexander Hack, who will presumably replace the departed Andrés Reyes in the starting XI.
The never-ending supply of academy products has kept the depth chart filled.
Biggest Transfer Need
As always with the Red Bulls it’s a question of top-end talent. Is Choupo-Moting, who hasn’t played over 2,000 minutes in a season since 2017-18, really going to be fit enough to start 25-ish regular-season games, and then fresh enough down the stretch and into the playoffs to make a difference? What about Emil Forsberg, whose long, mid-season injury might’ve been a blessing in disguise once the playoffs rolled along?
It would help if Vanzeir performed like a DP or if he departed to make room for a higher-performing match-winner to take his spot.
Also with the news that John Tolkin is on his way to Bundesliga side Holstein Kiel, left back has become a position of need.
- DP slots: 2/3 - Luis Muriel, Martín Ojeda
- U22 slots: 1/3 - Ramiro Enrique
- Available GAM (as of 12/19): $3,990,312
The Lions made one of the biggest deals of the offseason when they sold Facu Torres to Palmeiras for a fee reportedly north of $12m. That’s left them with an open DP slot and a big hole to fill.
Over the past few weeks, the only notable name they’ve been linked to is 20-year-old Colombia winger Nico Rodríguez, who’d come on a U22 deal. Obviously, they have more shopping to do beyond that.
Biggest Transfer Need
As I said last month, I think the smart thing would be to move Ojeda into Torres’ old spot on the right wing and to go out and get a game-controlling No. 10 of the sort that head coach Oscar Pareja really likes.
This is a big, big deal for a team with trophy aspirations. They can’t swing and miss like they did on Muriel.
Deep central midfield has gotten distressingly thin, by the way. And there’s legitimate, high-level interest in César Araújo. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but it absolutely could.
- DP slots: 2/2 - Dániel Gazdag, Mikael Uhre
- U22 slots: 1/4 - Olwethu Makhanya
- Available GAM: $4,220,769
They let starters Jack Elliott and Leon Flach walk. They brought in 23-year-old Argentine center back Ian Glavinovich. And they have a new coach in Bradley Carnell, whose whole purpose in life now is to execute sporting director Ernst Tanner’s vision.
That includes game model (run straight and fast) and player choices (expect an even younger version of the Union to take the field, even if they’re re-signed, Alejandro Bedoya).
Biggest Transfer Need
If they finally sell Kai Wagner, they’re suddenly thin at left back. Maybe they’d go shopping at that point, but I get the feeling “promote from within” is going to be the answer to damn near every single need case over the next few windows.
Which is to say I don’t expect much shopping from this team, needs or not.
- DP slots: 3/3 - Lorenzo Insigne, Federico Bernardeschi, Richie Laryea
- U22 slots: 1/3 - Cassius Mailula
- Available GAM (as of 12/19): $3,318,648
The big news thus far is that Robin Fraser was named head coach. He provides a direct link to the good old days, as he was Greg Vanney’s top assistant from 2015 to 2019 when the Reds were on top of the Eastern Conference.
Biggest Transfer Need
As of this writing, Toronto haven’t added a single player to their roster, which is pretty bad for a team that missed the playoffs. It’s somewhat understandable, though, as most of their work is clearly going into finding someone – anyone – to rid them of Lorenzo Insigne.
It feels very much like Fraser’s going to have to earn his money this year by 1) fitting a roster of misfit toys together, and 2) actually developing some of the young players, which they have mostly failed at over the years.
Ask me to point at one particular position of need, though, and I’ll go with center forward (though to be clear, I was not at all against the Prince Owusu trade).
