There are just a couple of days left before the MLS Secondary Transfer Window closes – officially this Thursday, folks – which means the next 48-plus hours should see a flurry of moves get in under the wire.
But not the big moves. Unless something is coming in from waaaay off-screen, the big moves have already been made.
And that points towards an undeniable truth: MLS rosters, overall, are more coherent and better-constructed than in years past. Chief soccer officers around the league are smarter about using data and more targeted in how they use it. That means their moves tend to get done earlier and in ways that make sense, and rosters are better because of it.
This isn’t universally true across the league, but it’s more true than in years past, which means this column, sadly, is less fun to write. There are simply fewer glaring needs out there, and fewer unutilized assets, which means there are fewer chances for me to scream and yell about folks needing to get something done before the clock strikes midnight.
So, with that little bit of context, here are some moves I want to see get made before Friday morning comes:
Ok, so about those big moves being done early across the league… obviously, there are a few not done, ones we’re still monitoring.
This is probably the biggest of them, given the current situation:
- RBNY have an open DP slot.
- RBNY badly need a big signing to juice the fanbase.
- RBNY are 10th in the Eastern Conference, in danger of missing the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2009.
- RB Global currently have Werner under contract through next summer, with the Leipzig branch.
There is mutual interest. The New York Red Bulls' braintrust want him, and multiple reports on two continents confirm Werner is, in fact, ready and willing to come to MLS – to Harrison, where he’d be the biggest signing since Thierry Henry – to continue his career.
He’s just not willing to take a pay cut to do it. Werner wants the number that’s written in his contract, and all signs point to him being willing to sit on his thumbs and do nothing over the next 12 months (he is not in the picture with Leipzig at all) rather than take a cut.
There are no other suitors, as his past two years have been poor. But RB Global is paying him anyway, so doesn’t it make more sense to pay him to play in New Jersey than sit in Germany?
You don’t sell Djordje Mihailovic if you don’t have a move for another playmaker lined up, right? Yeah, I know the Rapids have won their past two games playing without a true chance creator – it’s all set pieces, transition and the press – but that’s not sustainable. They need someone who can go out and play the final ball.
The Rapids Way (heh) off the field has been to find once-promising young players who have either seen their development stall or are in a situation where there’s no path to regular playing time. It’s how they got Mihailovic in the first place.
A couple of names come to mind:
- Benjamin Cremaschi just complained about not getting enough time in his preferred spots in Miami’s midfield. Cremaschi’s not the same type of creator as Djordje, but could slot in easily as a pressing No. 10 in Commerce City.
- Danny Leyva has already had one unsuccessful stint in Colorado a couple of years back, but he’s a better player now and – in my opinion, anyway – is actually a 10 in the same way Jack McGlynn has become a 10 down in Houston this season. That doesn’t perfectly fit Colorado’s game model, but they could certainly use the pitch control Leyva offers with the ball.
You could also talk me into Frankie Amaya (barely getting off the bench for LAFC), though I’ve always seen him more as an 8/6 than an 8/10. And I love Niko Tsakiris (another McGlynn-esque 10 who’s mostly played as an 8 thus far in his career), though I have my doubts about San Jose’s willingness to deal.
Cedric Teuchert was excellent when he arrived in St. Louis mid-summer last year, putting up 7g/4a in about 1,000 minutes across all competitions as a trequartista in interim head coach John Hackworth’s very fun, very open system.
He’s dropped off significantly this year with just 3g/2a in about 1,400 minutes, and hasn’t once looked comfortable under either Olof Mellberg or David Critchley. It’s an insane drop-off from a guy who’s spent the past few years being a reliable, professional goalscorer.
Teuchert’s got a TAM deal that’s guaranteed through next summer and would make a lot of sense playing underneath Christian Benteke in D.C. or Prince Owusu in Montréal. And I suspect he could be had at a relative discount given his struggles this year, and the likelihood that St. Louis are certainly thinking about recruiting over him this winter (and would probably love to have the cap space).
The Quakes have a lot of defensive issues, but the biggest to me is how raggedy their rest defense is. If they don’t win the ball, or at the very least hem their opponents in with that first wave of pressure, then it’s off to the races again and again and again. I mean…
That is rough.
A veteran organizer who is more of a natural No. 6 than the guys in the room right now would probably help. And while Kellyn Acosta is not inexpensive (he’s on a deal that’s close to max TAM, guaranteed through the end of next year), he’s somehow fallen to third on the Chicago Fire’s d-mid depth chart.
He hasn’t looked good this year, to be clear. But he’s only 30 and we’ve seen him play at a high level in this league for almost a decade. He’s giving off strong “just needs a change of scenery” vibes.
The Quakes, meanwhile, are desperate – or, at the very least, should be – given the way things have gone for them over the past two months, and their tenuous grip on the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
There is a very NBA-style trade that could work here, with Amahl Pellegrino’s expiring deal and use of an international slot for the rest of the season going to Chicago for Acosta. This clears a max TAM slot next year for the Fire at no cost to them, while the Quakes get their upgrade for a player they’re not using.
LAFC made the biggest move of the summer, spending a league-record fee on Son Heung-Min. But they still can open a DP slot and have a need for a central midfielder who can play Son and Denis Bouanga into space.
Minnesota United are reportedly on the verge of adding another No. 10 (Austrian midfielder Dominik Fitz), which is good work. But their bigger weakness is deeper in midfield, where the guys on hand simply don’t have the combo of defensive range and on-ball orchestration ability to dictate the game. This is the spot Loons fans have been begging the front office to upgrade for a while now.
It’s a stretch to call the Fire contenders, but if they went out and got themselves a Son-caliber signing in midfield, I think they’d jump into that tier.
And finally, it feels like maybe too much of a heat check from San Diego’s front office to go down the stretch with a center forward rotation of Marcus Ingvartsen, Corey Baird, Tomas Ángel and Onni Valakari when you’ve got an open DP slot and the Supporters’ Shield is there for the taking. Their system did as much for Milan Iloski as he did for them, and it might work the same way for Baird. Might.
But they can just about reach out and touch history here, and I'd hate to see them miss out on it by the distance of a "might." Instead, they should go out and grab it.
