News: 2024 / 2025 MLS Offseason Roster Moves, Signings, Speculation, & Rumors

So, was this trade made yesterday during the window, or are teams able to make some deals with San Diego today in the lead up to the expansion draft?

 

Rusnak and Joao Paulo both exposed, Leo Chu protected.

Craig Waibel must have done something really bad that Leo Chu knows about. I just cannot understand why he didn't take $4 million from Flamengo (or whoever it was last year) for Leo Chu.

Leo played a total of 720 minutes (8 games), had 1 goal and 2 assists. Getting $4 million for him would have been fantastic!

 

Too bad MLS can't get the dates right on its website for the deadlines on these mechanisms. They've had "Wednesday, Dec. 12" and "Thursday, Dec. 11" up there for six hours now. They must know about the errors by now, but it seems like they aren't interested in correcting them.

 

Err so much for that handshake deal about not taking anyone from Columbus in exchange for giving them an international slot for cheap.

 

Matt Baker just reported that San Diego will draft Hosei Kijima from St, Louis CITY and trade him to DC United for $400K in GAM.

Kijima is a young, quick dangerous creative player. If this plays out, it is a loss for CITY and a good acquisition for DC United (which seems to be collecting the whole set of CITY's players).

 

This won't make you feel any better. Hosei Kijima is the young gun who apparently is being snagged from CITY by San Diego and flipped to DC United for $400K in GAM. His stats are almost identical: 782 minutes in 18 games, 8 as a starter, with 1 goal and 2 assists.

 

and @Sounders78

The only way this makes sense is if Leo Chu has another buyer that results in equivalent or more GAM for Seattle. Otherwise, it is due to Waibel's dizzying intellect.

 

We'll definitely see which it is soon. I suppose after rejecting the $4 million offer because he wanted $5 million and then the contributions of de la Vega this season makes me a bit suspicious of Waibel's abilities.

 

"Sources" were wrong...again.
Shocking!

This "sources" person needs to up their game.

 

Nice one Greggggggg!

 

The Sounders have traded 2 international slots to San Diego for $250k in GAM. This leaves the Sounders with a total of 7 international spots, 4 of which are open.

https://www.soundersfc.com/news/sounders-fc-receives-250-000-in-2025-general-allocation-money

 

I suppose if your new attacking target is a Yank (Jesus Ferreira) and your academy is humming along, you need fewer international slots.

 

It's not just Academy, the Sounders are also aggressive with their Tacoma Defiance signings. 2 of the 3 international slots the Sounders are using are for signings that started with the Defiance. I think everyone here is aware of the potential for Georgi Minoungou, but the other signing is Braudilio Rodrigues. Rodrigues scored 17 goals for the Defiance last season and has a lot of potential as a part time starter/late game sub next season. Of course, both situations could change depending on signings in the off season.

That being said, I think the lack of international players on the Sounders is due more to how aggressive they are with getting green cards and how stable the roster has been for the last 3 seasons. Internationals that regularly make the game day roster generally only last a season and a half before they get a green card (I'm expecting de la Vega, and Georgi to get theirs by the middle of the season).

 

The Right to Dream...

 

According to Sounders at Heart, the Sounders have agreed to terms with FCD on the trades for Auriola and Ferreira, but are hung up on salary. They are trying to get Ferreira on a TAM signing and Auriola below TAM. In both cases they are using the Club World Cup as an enticement to sign for a discount as the competition will get the players in front of international scouts and make moves to Europe easier than if they stayed at FCD.

https://bsky.app/profile/jeremiah.sounderatheart.com/post/3ld52bvhywq2i

 

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