Happy New Year from the transfer roundup and everyone else at MLSsoccer.com. Whether you loved or loathed the MLS proceedings of 2025, that\u2019s all in the rearview mirror. Now it\u2019s all about the promise and possibility of a huge year ahead.<\/p>\n
In other words: Everyone\u2019s still undefeated in \u201826!<\/p>\n
Sure, the crustiest veterans of your particular fanbase might point out, from painful, hard-bitten experience, that trophies can\u2019t be won in the offseason (though some would say they can be lost). But hey, let\u2019s keep it positive at the dawn of another trip around the sun.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s our regular rundown of the most notable and intriguing developments of the winter transfer window.<\/p>\n
Chicago Fire FC<\/a> made real gains in year one under head coach and director of football Gregg Berhalter, snapping a painful Audi MLS Cup Playoffs drought and making a modest amount of noise once they got there, producing some genuinely beautiful soccer along the way. And we can safely say they\u2019re not standing pat after their 2025 success.<\/p>\n Before January even arrived, Chicago reinforced their engine room with the signing of Swedish international Anton Sal\u00e9tros<\/a>, exercised their purchase option on playmaker Andr\u00e9 Franco<\/a> (even in the wake of his unfortunate ACL tear in October), made a canny U22 Initiative wager on South African international center back Mbekezeli Mbokazi<\/a> and added useful goalkeeping depth with the signing of Josh Cohen<\/a>, while selling Brian Guti\u00e9rrez<\/a> to Chivas Guadalajara in what looks like a win-win deal.<\/p>\n Perhaps most notably, the Fire recruited a highly desirable, MLS-proven free agent in Robin Lod<\/a>, who did many things well in many different tactical roles across six-plus years with Minnesota United<\/a>, to the tune of 34 goals, 33 assists and 185 key passes in 158 regular-season appearances. A 2024 All-Star and all-around good dude, the Finnish international has also been a postseason regular, which only lifts the outlook in Chicago.<\/p>\n The turnover has been more profound at Orlando City<\/a>. The Lions appear to be turning the page on a stout, trophy-chasing squad that got a bit long in the tooth and faded down the stretch last season.<\/p>\n Oscar Pareja & Co. have bid farewell to goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, center back Rodrigo Schlegel and seven others since their Wild Card loss to the Fire. Meanwhile, both\u00a0Colombian media reports<\/a> and the player\u2019s own social media presence suggest striker Luis Muriel<\/a> (a mercurial contributor for most of his MLS days) is eager to return home to his boyhood club Atl\u00e9tico Junior as a reinforcement ahead of their 2026 Copa Libertadores campaign, perhaps even willing to take a pay cut to do so.<\/p>\n The Lions already plumbed Brazil, one of their ancestral hunting grounds, to fill two other premium roster slots: U22 Initiative swoops for 18-year-old defensive midfielder Luis Ot\u00e1vio<\/a> from Internacional, reportedly for a hefty $3.5 million fee, and Tiago Souza<\/a>, 20, a slick attacker from from Bahia capable of working up top or along the wings who\u2019s said to have cost around $6 million.<\/p>\n Orlando are also said to be closing in on veteran free-agent goalkeeper Maxime Cr\u00e9peau<\/a> \u2013 with Dayne St. Clair<\/a> off to Miami<\/a>, imagine Canada\u2019s World Cup-year starting GK competition stirred into the Florida Derby \u2013 and reportedly could soon move along winger Nicol\u00e1s Rodr\u00edguez<\/a> to Atl\u00e9tico Nacional. That would free up a U22 Initiative slot, which might help reward homegrown phenom Alex Freeman<\/a> with a new contract, and a Muriel exit would open up a Designated Player spot for further renewal.<\/p>\n Suffice it to say, general manager and sporting director Ricardo Moreira has been busy!<\/p>\n MLS Cup 2024 glory \u2192 2025\u2019s nightmarish absurdity \u2192 return to promised land in \u201826<\/p>\n That\u2019s more or less the desired diagram for the LA Galaxy<\/a>. Can Riqui Puig<\/a>\u2019s surgically repaired knee really spell the difference between the bottom of the Western Conference heap and its top, though? The Gs just made moves that suggest they understand a sturdier spine is required to regain legit-contender status, acquiring versatile free agent Justin Haak<\/a> and swinging a Best XI-caliber center back from Philadelphia<\/a> in Jakob Glesnes<\/a>. Clever.<\/p>\n A dozen miles up the 110, El Tr\u00e1fico rivals LAFC<\/a> are doing work too, sending Nashville<\/a> a cool $1 million in General Allocation Money for winger Jacob Shaffelburg<\/a>. The latest addition to the Angelenos\u2019 Canadian contingent offers a potent dose of pace and directness in support of Son Heung-Min<\/a> and Denis Bouanga<\/a>, though we\u2019re curious to see where in the lineup the lefty Nova Scotian actually turns out to be most useful to new head coach Marc Dos Santos.<\/p>\n Last winter, Austin<\/a> made headlines with massive spending on big-ticket buys from abroad, repeatedly breaking the club transfer record on Myrto Uzuni<\/a> and Brandon Vazquez<\/a> following their summer 2024 splash for Osman Bukari. You could argue the reported $30 million or so spent helped them return to the playoffs, though the pieces plainly didn\u2019t mesh.<\/p>\n We suspect it\u2019s no coincidence that sporting director Rodolfo Borrell has lately focused on more pragmatic moves, convincing free-agent defender Jon Bell<\/a> to leave Seattle<\/a> for Central Texas and inking trades with Vancouver<\/a> and Minnesota for Jayden Nelson<\/a> and Joseph Rosales<\/a>, respectively.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the sort of activity by which perennial contenders flesh out their rosters and set up Designated Players for success. With Bukari shipped off<\/a> to Polish outfit Widzew \u0141\u00f3d\u017a, Austin’s next DP might be arriving soon, and he might just be surrounded by a more functional supporting cast.<\/p>\n MLS has long been known as a \u2018copycat league,\u2019 where good ideas tend to get cribbed and spread elsewhere with speed. Since San Diego FC<\/a> got so much right in their surprisingly successful debut season, it serves to reason that others would take a few notes from Los Ni\u00f1os\u2019 expansion blueprint.<\/p>\n Like, say, the New England Revolution<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year finalist Mikey Varas, San Diego hired a US youth national team coach with no track record of running an MLS first team; the Revs chose a comparable USYNT alum in Marko Mitrovi\u0107<\/a>.<\/p>\n San Diego made hay with their accumulation of current and former USYNT prospects like Luca Bombino<\/a>, CJ dos Santos<\/a> and Oscar Verhoeven<\/a>; the Revs\u2019 first Mitrovi\u0107-era acquisitions are Brooklyn Raines<\/a> and Ethan Kohler<\/a>, high-upside youngsters with firsthand experience of working under Mitrovi\u0107 at the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n New England\u2019s got plenty of veteran talent like Carles Gil<\/a> and Leo Campana<\/a> in the cupboard, yet we\u2019re curious to see whether they tack younger in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n Charlotte add de la Torre<\/p>\n Hungry for a platform to clamber into the United States\u2019 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a> squad, it didn\u2019t take midfielder Luca de la Torre<\/a> long to find a new MLS home after San Diego elected not to bring him back to his hometown following a 2025 loan spell.<\/p>\n Charlotte FC quickly stepped up to seal a permanent deal<\/a> with LaLiga’s Celta de Vigo for de la Torre, whose composed ball progression may be just what The Crown needs to add another gear to their game model.<\/p>\n Tata Martino called in a couple of fellow Newell\u2019s Old Boys products as he wades into his second stint as Atlanta United<\/a> head coach.<\/p>\n The Five Stripes thumped down a reported $5 million to pry Argentine defender Tom\u00e1s Jacob<\/a> away from LIGA MX side Necaxa in a U22 Initiative transaction, and signed Lucas Hoyos<\/a> as mentorship and competition for rising goalkeeper Jayden Hibbert<\/a>.<\/p>\n Should MLS clubs be scouting Japan more heavily? D.C. United<\/a> and their coach, former Kashima Antlers boss Ren\u00e9 Weiler, may reckon so.<\/p>\n A few days after addressing their goalkeeping needs with the capture of veteran Sean Johnson<\/a>, the Black-and-Red made an interesting move for attack-minded left back Keisuke Kurokawa<\/a> of Gamba Osaka.<\/p>\n D.C. have also racked up flight miles to Romania, it seems, as they\u2019re reputed to be nearly done with a record-setting DP deal for 23-year-old CFR Cluj striker Louis Munteanu.<\/p>\n Minnesota United bid adieu to a raft of starting-caliber talent in St. Clair, Lod, Rosales and Hassani Dotson<\/a> over the past few weeks, and swiftly responded with a couple of pragmatic replacements, bringing in goalkeeper Drake Callender<\/a> from Charlotte and taking a flyer on creative Argentine Tom\u00e1s Chancalay<\/a> after his Revs days.<\/p>\n Suddenly, though, there\u2019s a new Loons plotline to track: Swirling speculation about coach Eric Ramsay as a possible successor to Liam Rosenior at France\u2019s Strasbourg, should the Englishman take the reins at the Ligue 1 side\u2019s sibling club Chelsea FC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Happy New Year from the transfer roundup and everyone else at MLSsoccer.com. 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