San Diego FC traded another highly paid player, landed a midfielder from a familiar place and made up for a recent defender’s departure with some Major League Soccer-caliber depth in the final hours of the league’s transfer deadline.
The acquisition of veteran defender Sam Vines and young midfielder David Mimbang ahead of Wednesday’s 9 p.m. transfer deadline could go a long way toward determining whether SDFC (8-8-6) makes the MLS postseason. The club heads into this weekend owning the eighth (and final) Western Conference playoff spot.
San Diego began the day by acquiring Vines on loan from the Houston Dynamo in exchange for its third-round pick in the 2028 MLS SuperDraft.
Vines, 27, has played in three matches this season. He made 80 appearances over two stints (2018-21, 2024-25) with the Colorado Rapids, spending time with Belgium’s Royal Antwerp FC in between. SDFC carries a club option on the loan that could keep Vines in San Diego through December 2027.
Vines plays the same position — left back — as Luca Bombino, who San Diego FC sold to England’s Stoke City FC earlier this week for a reported $5 million transfer fee. While it’s unreasonable to expect Vines to take his place, he could help complement Kieran Sargeant, Oscar Verhoeven and others at the position.
SDFC turned to a familiar place — Denmark – to land Mimbang. The 18-year-old was acquired from SDFC’s sister club, FC Nordsjælland – the same team that formerly employed SDFC captain Jeppe Tverskov and wing Marcus Ingvartsen. Both clubs are part of the same Right to Dream system.
“David is a player we’ve been tracking closely within Right to Dream, and bringing him to San Diego was a real group effort and a great example of the collaboration across our sporting departments,” SDFC sporting director Tyler Heaps said.
Heaps said the Cameroon native “has the physical tools, technical quality and mentality to continue developing, and we believe San Diego FC is a great environment for him to take that next step.”
SDFC wrapped the day by dealing Lewis Morgan to Toronto FC in exchange for an international roster spot.
The 29-year-old Scot’s tenure in San Diego was as brief as it was expensive. In December, SDFC paid $450,000 in general allocation money to acquire Morgan from the New York Red Bulls. He appeared in 18 matches for SDFC, logging three assists without scoring a goal.
Morgan is earning $1.86 million this season, making him the third-highest-paid player on SDFC’s rolls behind Hirving “Chucky” Lozano (now on loan with LA Galaxy) and Anders Dreyer.
Toronto FC general manager Jason Hernandez said Morgan has “established himself as an impactful attacker” in previous stops with CF Miami and the Red Bulls.
“His flexibility to play across multiple positions in the attack will be a valuable quality for our group moving forward,” he said.
And moving forward for SDFC? The azul and chrome will play Saturday afternoon at Orlando City. The match starts at 4:30 p.m. and will air on Apple TV.