One more week.
The 2025 MLS season kicks off in a matter of days – and eight teams begin competitive matches even sooner, thanks to their participation in the Concacaf Champions Cup. It’s just about go time, which means the urgency to complete outstanding transfer dealings is peaking.
There are still some loose ends here and there to be tied up, and the Primary Transfer Window remains open through mid-April. But if you want to hit the ground running, it’s an important juncture.
Here’s what went down on the market over the past week.
We’re comfortable calling it the biggest telenovela of this offseason: Lucho Acosta’s messy, drawn-out divorce with FC Cincinnati. It popped off before the metaphorical body of their 2024 campaign was even cold, mere moments after their Audi MLS Cup Playoffs series loss to New York City FC was in the books, and it finally drew to a close on Wednesday as the diminutive maestro completed a $5 million-plus cash-for-player trade to FC Dallas.
It brings vital closure to Cincy ahead of their CCC opener, with their corresponding move for the Portland Timbers’ wantaway playmaker Evander now reportedly imminent, which in turn will reportedly allow the Rose City side to clinch their corresponding replacement for him, RC Lens No. 10 David Da Costa – dominos falling from East to West and back again.
And it transforms Dallas’ outlook for 2025, markedly raising the ceiling on their rebuilding project.
“You can't help but think about the vision of what he's going to do on the field, and the excitement and passion he's going to bring to our fan base,” said FCD’s new head coach Eric Quill.
“This is an acquisition that shows that we want to be winners,” declared their chief soccer officer, André Zanotta.
Easy to miss amid all this: FCD also added substantial defensive reinforcements, signing Osaze Urhoghide for reportedly $3 million-plus from Amiens SC and young Portuguese-Brazilian center back Álvaro Augusto of Portimonense SC.
Has any striker in contemporary MLS history been more persistently underrated and under the radar than Christian “Superman” Ramírez?
Maybe it’s because he’s always been willing to leave the brightest spotlights to more famous teammates. Or because he’s from Garden Grove, California instead of São Paulo or Buenos Aires. Or because he painstakingly climbed the domestic pyramid from NAIA college ball to USL PRO to NASL (some bygone acronyms possibly unfamiliar to younger readers) before finally getting his first MLS shot at age 25, when Minnesota United joined the top flight in 2017.
Anyway, Superman has been doing the business for some time now, and finally got a bit of shine for his complementary but nevertheless crucial role in the Columbus Crew’s past two years of excellence.
Now he’s moved to his fifth MLS club, traded to the LA Galaxy in exchange for $250,000 in 2025 General Allocation Money and $250,000 in conditional 2026 GAM, a timely, experienced replacement for Dejan Joveljić, whose big cash-for-player deal to Sporting KC we discussed in our previous edition of this notebook. Ramírez also joins the small yet steadily growing list of players to suit up for both SoCal clubs, having already repped LAFC several years ago.
With Riqui Puig out long-term and Joseph Paintsil reportedly sidelined by a quad injury, the Gs were a tad light in attack and Superman should make a great reference point at the No. 9 spot.
The 2024 champs got some tidy work done on the international front, too. With Riqui rebuilding his ACL and Mark Delgado and Gastón Brugman shipped out to LAFC and Nashville SC, respectively, to move towards salary-budget compliance, LA needed help in central midfield. Enter the league's U22 Initiative to obtain it.
In walks Lucas Sanabria, a 21-year-old Uruguayan who can work as both a holding mid and box-to-box presence, blessed with range and tenacity as well as a classy touch on the ball. His performances at Club Nacional had already drawn the attention of his country’s full national team, with La Celeste’s legendary boss Marcelo Bielsa calling him into a World Cup qualifying camp last fall.
If he stays on his current trajectory, the reportedly $5 million fee (plus another seven figures’ worth of performance-based add-ons) paid by the Galaxy might eventually look like a bargain. But Sanabria’s facing a steep learning curve in a new land, especially considering the big target now affixed to the Gs’ backs.
Orlando City supporters hope their Lions can kick on to unprecedented new heights in year six under Oscar Pareja, having fallen excruciatingly short of their first-ever MLS Cup final a few months ago. A big part of Papi’s recipe has been his rugged central-midfield duo of César Araújo and Wilder Cartagena, “those two soldiers that I have in the middle,” in the Colombian coach’s words – but Cartagena looks to be on the shelf for several months, having reportedly torn his Achilles tendon in a preseason match.
OCSC were clever to pick up 27-year-old LAFC alum Eduard Atuesta from Palmeiras to patch this important hole, given his substantial MLS experience and useful skill set. He knows the league well – don’t forget that he was a Best XI selection in 2019 and an All-Star in 2021 – and remains in his prime even if things haven’t exactly gone ideally for him in Brazil.
A one-year deal with a club option for 2026 limits Orlando’s risk, and with his range of tempo-setting passing, he brings qualities that weren’t necessarily abundant in their incumbent midfield pair. We’re intrigued to see how he slots in next to Araújo, who might enjoy the clarity of a more defensive focus while Atuesta covers ground ahead of him.
