The 2025 MLS summer transfer window is just a few weeks away, and teams are shaping up to build towards the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs as well as looking ahead to their more long-term futures.
While some clubs use the summer window to bolster their roster, others not in contention can see it as a chance to bring in players in the European offseason, and allow them to adjust through the final months of the campaign, before focusing on a strong start to the next season.
Each of the 30 teams in MLS will likely have some participation in the window, but five clubs stand out among those that could have the most formative time from its opening on July 24 to closing on Aug. 21.
5. Toronto FC
The future is wide open for Toronto FC. After reaching a mutual contract termination with each of Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi, the club have ample cap space and two full Designated Player spots to play with. At the same time, Cassius Mailula appears not to have a future with the club following his loan to Morocco’s Wydad AC, leaving TFC with U22 Initiative flexibility as well.
Toronto could even shift from the three-DP roster model to the 2-4-2 alternative to gain additional General Allocation Money and maximize their younger talent with four U22 Initiative spots.
Yet, any signing will have to have a long-term future in mind. Simply, the supporting cast around the team is not strong enough to build around a DP at this point, and they need to develop a new core.
For general manager Jason Hernandez, it’s about as clean a slate as he could hope for. Yet, with the recent ownership changes in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns each of Toronto FC, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors, among other entertainment properties, the flexibility to sign big-budget stars could be different in the future.
4. Columbus Crew SC
Columbus Crew SC have hit their groove in recent weeks with five straight games unbeaten, including four wins. However, they have yet to look as threatening as they did when they won MLS Cup in 2023 and last year’s Leagues Cup, two runs led by superstar attacker, Cucho Hérnandez.
Since selling Hérnandez to Real Betis ahead of the season, head coach Wilfried Nancy has elevated Jacen-Russell Rowe into a starting role, while the club brought in playmaker Danial Gázdag from the Philadelphia Union.
However, they have yet to replace Hérnandez’s superstar capabilities truly, and have an open DP spot to do so. Watch that space this summer.
3. Charlotte FC
Charlotte FC seemed to have everything right ahead of the season. They had a proven striker in Patrick Agyemang leading the line, and topped off their midfield quality with a superstar winger in Wilfred Zaha. Yet, things haven’t quite gone to plan, with Agyemang now sold to Derby County in the English Championship and Zaha struggling to produce in MLS.
If the team is to have any success this season, they will have to replace Agyemang’s contributions. They could have significant money to spend after the sale as well, with Derby paying a reported minimum of $8 million for the USMNT striker.
2. Inter Miami CF
Every MLS team has to fit within the salary cap, but there is a little more flexibility for Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami CF. Several players are willing to take a pay cut to play with the Herons and alongside legends, while others neatly fit into a mix of DP and U22 spots.
Recently, Miami have been linked to 31-year-old Argentine midfielder Rodrigo de Paul, who appears set to join the club and likely join the central midfield in head coach Javier Mascherano’s 4-4-2.
However, with Messi, Jordi Alba, and Sergio Busquets on DP contracts and already up against the maximum for Targeted Allocation Money players and U22 Initiative slots, Miami will need to get creative to add de Paul or other top-tier talents to the squad. One potential option could involve pushing one of the DPs, likely Busquets, to a mutual contract termination, or splitting with Luis Suárez and replacing his TAM-eligible contract with De Paul.
Miami have shown the most ambition of any MLS club in history and are one of the few that are truly held back by the league’s structures. Yet, since signing Messi, they have managed to become flexible when it comes to roster building.
LAFC
After mutually parting ways with French striker Olivier Giroud and saying farewell to Cengiz Under, LAFC have two full DP spots to play with heading into the summer transfer window. It gives them a chance to elevate an already strong core of Denis Bouanga, Mark Delgado and others, with hopes of building towards the MLS Cup Playoffs.
However, they will have to be cautious when bringing in new talent, as any new players are likely to form the next core of LAFC’s history, and will have to not only thrive under head coach Steve Cherundolo but also a new staff when Cherundolo departs the club in the winter.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Five Teams to Watch in the MLS Transfer Window This Summer.