Some reports on Twitter saying the Boguzs deal is done. I get that many folks will not let their hopes get up, and I get that. I'm just focused on the total amount of significant moves being made, and that there appears to be real effort to improve. Seems valid if one were to say: "The league is advancing so much, look at Miami, LAFC, etc .... is this really spending at a level and manner to compete with that?" My take is this: That is valid, but Vancouver and Philadelphia both showed you can compete without big name superstars. (Whitecaps were Shield contenders deep into the season before Mueller ever showed up.) Does that mean the Dynamo are doing that? Who knows? But there is enough going on that, if these new players are good, then it is possible. Big ifs, but enough to make me excited for the season to find out. A big outstanding question is Ponce. I hope he stays because if he can't score now with Boguzs, a one-year older McGlynn, Lingr, Ennali, and the new Forward from Brazil who produced something in Brazil top division. Maybe it all doesn't work? I dunno -- but we will learn something about Ponce now.
Matthew Doyle has tried to analyze the amount of GAM each team has. Lots of caveats and emptors .... but here is what he wrote for the Dynamo:
Sleeper news tidbit of the day. Most folks will miss the significance of this. Dynamo announced new staff additions. They don't mention any departures, but a couple are implied (Head trainer, GK coach). So five new staff members: Preston Burpo - Goalkeeper Coach Louan Schlicht - Video Analyst Reece Edwards - Video Analyst Meghan McKay - Head Athletic Trainer Guilherme Cardoso - Sports Dietician Then they mention the biggest part of all: "Additionally, the Club has hired former Canadian international player Mark Watson as its new Director of Identification." Whoa. Expansion of scouting. I like this. That is really meaningful. Foundation enhancement. Remember they had been relying, seemingly, on this big data outfit consultants for player identification. I like enhancing that and adding in a focused dedicated Scouting director. The team goes on to say about Watson:
My Notes from Onstad big season opening Presser: - First few seasons were a scramble to assemble a team as best as possible, with inherited limitations - Price had to be paid, and we saw that last season. - That is done, now we are building without hands tied. - Going into 2026, Dynamo are starting with 3d highest amount of useable cap space in the league and they are using that to build a competitive team - still a few more moves to make, including open DP slot and a TAM defender - no comment on Boguzs "player under contract with a different club." (Today, Dynamo have announced that deal is done. $6m transfer + $4m in bonuses, so likely the DP referenced above) - Escobar wanted to go to South America, new fiance in his life, they wanted to go South. - Spoke highly about Glenn Davis -- implied he was not involved in that and likes/respects Glenn. - One goal is to have better depth at all positions this year - Objective is to consistently be a playoff team. Curiously, he spoke reservedly on whether playoffs were a reasonable expectation this season. - They have an outside company helping build team culture. (that is interesting) - Raines had only one-year left on contract and wanted to go play for his U20 coach. Decision was to take good money rather than take the risk. JuegoView: While I have grave concerns about FO culture, lack of marketing, incredibly poor customer relations and just plain stupid decisions on how to use the stadium (the rediculous decision to make only lower level seats have upper level club access) .... .. all I expect on the soccer side is to believe the team is trying. I find the overall arc explanation reasonable, and I think the current spate of moves meets that expectation. If they finish p5-p9 and are happy because they made the playoffs -- I will be unhappy with that. The only thing I really don't like, and it is nit-picking of a sort, is the constant stating of that the goal is "making the playoffs." I consider making the playoffs as mediocre and not-competitive. I want my team to say "We want to be at the top of the table, competing for hardware, finishing in the top 4. Anything less is disappointing, but we do realize this is a parity league and being top is hard and likely impossible to meet that goal every year -- but that is our goal."
Last year they tanked the season and took profits on player sales off the table after they already had everyone locked into season tickets. Bait and switch.
I had to read this twice Don! Ha! I don't really know the word to describe this from our club. But... That insight on us selling a homegrown to another MLS club makes the move more palatable. Good on ya Raines!
BTW: Bogusz deal seems to be done. https://bsky.app/profile/tombogert.bsky.social/post/3mcsaikjzvs2d Also, the Markonich deal is complete: https://bsky.app/profile/houstondynamo.com/post/3mcugfnzadd2g
Today, MLS published 2026 GAM per team: Dynamo have $6.57M, third highest on the list (as Pat said last week.) Minn United ($7.26M) and RSL ($6.95M) are the only teams with more. https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-publishes-2026-general-allocation-money I do not know how much of that GAM is spoken for in the various moves the team has already made. Would be a good question for Pat or Asher.
According to MLSMOVES twitter account Bogusz is the third most expensive deal in MLS this off-season so far:
There are tweets out there as late as midnight last night claiming the Bogusz deal is not finalized, and in fact could fall through. Few are in English and all come out of the Cruz Azul camp ... so I have no idea how reliable they are, or might be misreading them. It is twitter after all -- the cesspool of misinformation.
1030a post this morning says Boguzs deal still not settled, could fall apart. ¿SE VA O NO SE VA? 😱🔥La novela de Mateusz Bogusz sigue sin resolverse y la desesperación en la afición celeste es cada vez mayor.➡️ Reporta César Caballero de ESPN que la transferencia de Bogusz a Houston Dynamo está DETENIDA por temas de contrato, y de cómo utilizarán el… pic.twitter.com/d9eEhLQVmn— Futbol Total (@futboltotal) January 23, 2026 This is becoming a saga.
It is being reported that the Dynamo are losing a young academy prospect to Rayados: Dynamo Homegrown Sebastian Rodriguez reportedly signing with Monterrey in LigaMX. https://t.co/RfN9LWxtBb— Bayou City Soccer (@BayouCitySoccer) January 23, 2026
Latest posts I can find on the Bogusz to Dynamo situation: says CA is trying to get a higher sell-on percentage, maybe other contract details. Mateusz Bogusz’s transfer to Houston Dynamo FC is currently on hold due to contractual disagreements and a dispute over the percentage of a future sale that Cruz Azul would retain 🤷♂️✍️ @ccaballero10 pic.twitter.com/YW8rn86Zey— Polski Transfers 🇵🇱 (@polskitransfers) January 24, 2026
Latest: Dynamo want to exlude inter-mls transfers from the sell-on provision, CA doesn't agree, according to a Polish tweeter ... Mateusz Bogusz nadal czeka na podpisanie kontraktu z Houston Dynamo. Pojawiły się rozbieżności między klubami, a chodzi o 30% z następnego transferu. Cruz Azul nie godzi się na propozycję Houston, by wyłączyć z tej klauzuli transfer wewnątrz MLS. ℹ️ Cesar Caballero— Tomek Hatta (@Fyordung) January 24, 2026
And now a tweet out of Mexico saying that the Dynamo improved the Bogusz offer terms and CA are accepting the deal: Y SE MARCHÓ 🚂👋🇵🇱Cerrada al fin la transferencia de Mateusz Bogusz de Cruz Azul a Houston:💰 6 mdd por 70% del pase y 4 mdd en bonos por rendimiento, tal como se adelantó en @record_mexico 🔎 ¿Qué sigue? Un delantero y un central, sólo si es buena oportunidad https://t.co/g8JGHIPAoQ— Carlos Ponce de León (@Carlos_Ponz) January 26, 2026
More tweets. Maybe it really is real now MATEUSZ BOGUSZ: 🇵🇱Ahora sí, hay arreglo total entre Houston Dynamo y Cruz Azul. @CruzAzul cuenta en estos momentos con una plaza libre NFM. pic.twitter.com/FgHgupJs6k— Adrián Esparza Oteo💎 (@A_EsparzaOteo) January 26, 2026 Más de 10 días después, se concretó su salida. Lo reitero, Cruz Azul hizo un negociazo con el Houston Dynamo por Bogusz. Cruz Azul tiene hasta el 2 de febrero para concretar un fichaje más. https://t.co/DlLCc6yTUX— Eduardo Cristobal (@Lalo_Criz1) January 26, 2026
While it’s still good that the MLS now has intra league cash transfers, it’s pretty surprising to me they didn’t see this coming. I’m glad that it sounds from the later tweets a resolution has been reached but I was real worried for a while that the league office was going to cause this to be torpedoed.
Do you know how previous contracts have handled this question? I think your exactly right to worry that MLS HQ would risk blowing up a Dynamo deal to try set a precedent.
Twitter report that the Dynamo signed an apparent free agent LB, 30yo Argentine/Italian Franco Negri, recently of FC San Diego. SDFC did not exercise an option for 2026. In 2025 he played in 15 games for 659 minutes. 1G, 1A. Before that he spent two-years with Inter Messiami playing in 27 games for 2100 minutes, backing up Jordi Alba. 🚨Franco Negri es nuevo refuerzo del Houston Dynamo. *️⃣El 🇦🇷llega como agente libre desde San Diego y firmará contrato por un año con opción a otro. Como tiene Green Card, no ocupa cupo de extranjero. pic.twitter.com/pX8eks7bVI— César Luis Merlo (@CLMerlo) January 26, 2026
https://bsky.app/profile/bayoucitysoccer.net/post/3mderjk6qjc2q BCS says our first round draft pick has decided to remain in college rather than stay with the Dynamo. Of course, the latter might not have been an option.... or maybe he was told he would be offered a Dynamo2 contract. Who really knows?