The 2025 MLS Secondary Transfer window might go down as one of the most formative in the league’s history.
The 2023 window saw Lionel Messi make his way to Inter Miami, but in 2025, teams from all-sized markets saw themselves contend for some of the biggest available names. By the time the window closed, several superstars had signed, but many teams also made significant strides.
With the 2025 Secondary Transfer window in the rearview, Sports Illustrated takes a look at the teams that did the best of all.
1. FC Cincinnati
FC Cincinnati turned themselves into clear-cut MLS Cup favorites with the recent transfer window, and they’re doing so as one of the league’s smaller market teams.
While they missed out on Thomas Müller and lost DeAndre Yedlin to Real Salt Lake, their incoming talent should be enough for them to make a real chase towards the title and through the remaining regular-season games.
They brought back Brenner from Serie A’s Udinese on transfer deadline day, creating a feisty attack of him and club record signing Kévin Denkey up top, with Evander and Pavel Bucha pulling the strings in midfield.
With Brenner, they get a player who should have no trouble adapting back to MLS, after scoring 27 goals and racking up seven assists in 73 appearances for Cincinnati from 2021 to 2023, before leaving for Serie A.
In smaller moves, Dominik Marczuk will fit in well as a wingback coming over from Real Salt Lake, while Samuel Gidi and Ender Echenique have potential to make an impact, each at 21 years old.
Cincinnati were already one of the strongest teams, and they just got better. With their consistency and new additions, they’re the clear MLS Cup favorites coming out of the transfer window.
2. Toronto FC
Toronto FC had the most formative window of any MLS club, finally finding their way out of the Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi disaster contracts, and opening up their future.
It took a pretty penny to part ways with the Italians on what the club called “mutual contract terminations.” Still, it laid the groundwork for General Manager Jason Hernandez to start building the foundations of a roster for the future.
The club were quick to spend in the window, shelling out $8 million plus add-ons to bring in attacking midfielder Djordje Mihailović from the Colorado Rapids, as their main focal point in midfield.
Although the transfer came at a high cost, at 26, Mihailović has plenty of time to be the key point of a rebuild. Later on, Toronto continued by adding former LAFC star midfielder Jose Cifuentes on loan from Glasgow Rangers, and trading away midfielder Matty Longstaff to add young Canadian attacker Jules-Anthony Vilsaint from CF Montréal.
Toronto FC may be a long way from an MLS Cup contender at this point, but they’ve started to build a very strong foundation and could be a playoff team in 2026.
3. LAFC
Adding one of the best Premier League players of a generation and spending an MLS-record fee to do so is a good way to define a transfer window, and that’s precisely what LAFC did to bring in Son Heung-min.
Despite the exorbitant $26 million shelled out to Tottenham Hotspur for a player who had expressed his desire to leave, Son’s level is still high enough to be an outright superstar in MLS. He has done well in his first few appearances for LAFC, mainly playing as a striker instead of a winger.
Meanwhile, the club also split with French forward Olivier Giroud, after the World Cup winner struggled to adapt to MLS and failed to make an on-field impact with LAFC.
Outside of Son, though, General Manager John Thorrington continued to build out the roster, adding Canadian international midfielder Mathieu Choiniére from FC Grasshopper, and also brought in Scottish defender Ryan Porteus from Watford in the English Championship.
Time will tell whether LAFC are good enough to win MLS Cup in 2025, but they certainly elevated their overall quality this summer.
Other Transfer Window Standouts
4. Inter Miami CF—They already had Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suárez, but somehow figured out how to add Rodrigo De Paul and Mateo Silvetti.
5. Vancouver Whitecaps FC—They’re adding Thomas Müller to an already strong team, and made some shrewd signings of creative midfielder Kenji Cabrera, as well as center back depth Sebastian Schonlau and Joedrick Pupe.
6. Colorado Rapids—A quick fix to the Mihailović sale, they bring in 21-year-old American midfielder Paxten Aaronson in a potentially league-changing move.
7. New England Revolution—Bringing back Matt Turner in goal was a brilliant idea for both club and player, and they fought off Rangers to bring in highly-sought Israeli striker Dor Turgeman as well.
8. Columbus Crew SC—There wasn’t a ton of movement for Columbus, but they found the missing piece in the attack with Wessam Abou Ali arriving after starring at the FIFA Club World Cup with Al Ahly.
9. Portland Timbers—Kristoffer Velde as a new DP is a very “Timbers” move, while Felipe Carballo and Matías Rojas are both solid additions.
10. Minnesota United—Dominik Fitz is a strong signing and should cushion the blow of losing Tani Oluwaseyi to Villarreal.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Which Teams Won the 2025 MLS Summer Transfer Window? .