Three weeks to go – even less for several Concacaf Champions Cup participants.
As preseason workouts and scrimmages build towards opening day, another busy week of wheeling, dealing and squad-building unfolded across MLS, highlighted by a couple of tentpole-tier transactions that could reverberate across the league.
Here’s what you need to know.
Calling it a “hero’s welcome” might be selling it short.
Atlanta United supporters flocked to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Thursday night to envelop Miguel Almirón with love as the Paraguayan playmaker touched down in Georgia after completing a reported $10 million (plus add-ons) transfer deal, greeting him in the terminal with signs, songs and a visceral outpouring of support.
It’s both a powerful reinforcement for the Five Stripes’ attack and a sensationally romantic return to the club, almost exactly six years after he left for Newcastle United as an MLS Cup champion and paradigm-shifting transfer success story. “Miggy” and his goal-scoring comrade Josef Martínez tore opposing defenses apart for ATLUTD’s first two seasons, helping draw massive crowds and personifying the team’s seismic impact on their city and the entire league.
Charlotte FC pursued a deal for Almirón for months, reportedly getting quite close to fruition last summer. But with new leadership and a massive transfer kitty in place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, ATL made sure not to let their budding Southern rivals snatch their icon. With a record deal for Ivorian striker Emmanuel Latte Lath also said to be nearly in place with Middlesbrough, ATLiens are feeling, with good reason, like they are indeed back.
They got us again!
For a second week in a row, those mischievous rapscallions at Austin FC completed a massive piece of transfer business deep into a Friday afternoon, just a couple of hours after we’d published our previous edition of this notebook. First, it was the sale of Sebastián Driussi; this time it was their swoop for prolific Albanian forward Myrto Uzuni, who arrives from Spanish second-division side Granada for a reported $12.3 million transfer fee.
If you’re wondering why we have such a precise number there, it’s because multiple reports state that the Verde & Black triggered his release clause, which is generally seen as a power move, a statement of intent about the central Texans’ resolve to get this latest attacking piece in the door in time for ample preseason preparations. And let’s emphasize the ‘latest’ part of that sentence, because it's the third time ATX have broken their own transfer-fee record in barely six months. First, it was flying winger Osman Bukari last summer ($7 mil), then No. 9 Brandon Vazquez earlier this winter ($10 mil), and now it’s Uzuni.
And just like that, Austin have a brand-new attack, and a much higher ceiling, it seems. Although there are some lingering questions about how it all fits together, as Armchair Analyst Matt Doyle explored in detail a few days ago, noting that Uzuni, while nominally able to work on the wings or centrally, is a second forward at heart. That said, these are champagne problems for new coach Nico Estévez.
If you don’t know the name yet, you might soon: Christian McFarlane, the New York City FC homegrown fullback who just moved to the Pigeons’ sibling club Manchester City at the tender age of 18 after earning a substantial dose of first-team minutes last year.
While he faces a steep climb to break into the English giants’ first team anytime soon and is likely to spend time out on loan in the coming months, the simple facts of his trajectory underline just how rich in potential he really is. Even more so when you consider the pedigree of the NYCFC academy alums who’ve already beat a path to Europe before him – the likes of Giovanni Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach) and James Sands (FC St. Pauli), as well as other MLS standouts like Jack Harrison and Zack Steffen who’ve climbed the ranks of City Football Group, the global alliance of clubs headed by Man City.
Born in England, raised in NYC and eligible for the United States and Jamaica, but provisionally cap-tied as an England youth international, McFarlane is one to watch, at both club and country levels.
It might not have been an imminent part of the plan for LAFC, but when a Mexican powerhouse rolls in with a hefty transfer offer some 10 times what you paid for a player, you gotta take the call. Endgame: versatile attacker Mateusz Bogusz is now the Black & Gold’s record transfer sale, joining Cruz Azul for a reported $10 million fee.
The 23-year-old Polish international attracted the Mexico City giants’ attention with 18 goals and 11 assists in 60 regular-season matches and another 1g/3a in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. As difficult as Bogusz may be for the Angelinos to replace, that fee will certainly help.
Something similar can be said about the New York Red Bulls’ sale of Dante Vanzeir to Belgian contenders Genk, a reported $3 million move which is important first and foremost because it opens up a Designated Player slot for RBNY. While the striker’s talent was evident, he was never quite able to match it with corresponding levels of productivity and now the 2024 MLS Cup finalists can aim to consolidate last year’s progress with a different frontline mix.
Ask any scout: The rising tide of young talent across the United States and Canada extends beyond MLS and MLS NEXT Pro, as the LA Galaxy illustrated with their acquisition of central midfielder Elijah Wynder, 21, from USL Championship side Louisville City, a reported $400,000 deal that represents a new record for USL-to-MLS transactions.
The older brother of Josh Wynder, a talented defender who himself set a USL outbound transfer record with a million-dollar move to Benfica in 2023, Elijah represents an injection of youth for the defending champions. That process probably isn’t done, either, with general manager Will Kuntz telling reporters this week that the Gs are optimistic of soon completing a swoop for young Uruguayan terrier Lucas Sanabria, also 21, from Club Nacional.
The Galaxy pushed right up against the limits of the salary budget to build the team that won last year’s title, so moves like this – and the exits, via trade, of Mark Delgado and Gastón Brugman – are necessary to attain roster compliance by opening day. Will these changes inevitably take a hit on their competitiveness in the early going? Or might they actually be improving their squad in the long run?
That’s THE big question in Carson right now.
