MLS Moves I Like: Berhalter's first big swing, and two USMNT players make a switch

New York Times

31-01-2025

The MLS offseason has arguably made more headlines for its departures than its incoming acquisitions. Plenty of teams have profited off of a surge of interest from Mexican and South American clubs: Sebastian Driussi (Austin) joined River Plate, Alan Velasco is off to Boca Juniors, and Estudiantes is in talks to snag 2023 MVP Luciano Acosta from FC Cincinnati.
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This is an inevitability as MLS further assimilates into the global transfer market in all of its arenas. A club in a league like MLS can never fully be a 'buyer' or a 'seller,' instead having to remain nimble to upgrade in key areas while staying one step ahead with their roster evolution.
As teams are beginning to play preseason friendlies, it's time to revive Moves I Like, a series The Athletic launched last winter to track transactions of all levels of magnitude. Today, we'll size up four moves across the league: two from sides hoping to bounce back from missing the playoffs, two from clubs that are trying to take the next step within their conferences.
As the name suggests, this is not to imply that these are the four most important moves of the window, nor the ones you're sure to have missed. It's on the tin, gang: these are Moves I Like.
For nearly a decade, the phrase 'new Chicago Fire designated player' has been synonymous with over-spending and underperformance alike. The names following Bastian Schweinsteiger and Nemanja Nikolic's mutual departures in 2019 hardly compare in terms of impact: Robert Beric, Ignacio Aliseda, Jairo Torres and Ousmane Doumbia among them. Worst of all was Xherdan Shaqiri, who was MLS's top earner before Lionel Messi signed and limited their roster retooling efforts with bloated wages and awful performances.
Last season saw one bright spot, as Hugo Cuypers quietly bagged 10 goals feeding off of table scraps. Now in his second year, the Belgian striker will hope to forge a more consistent pipeline of service from homegrown midfield starlet Brian Gutierrez under new head coach Gregg Berhalter.
The former USMNT manager mostly played in a 4-3-3 lineup over his final three years with the national team. Rather than utilizing a No. 10, his chief chance creator operated on the left wing, with Christian Pulisic cutting in toward the half-space to feed the striker or right winger Tim Weah. While Gutierrez can play on the flank, he projects to best fit as a central midfielder or a No. 10, leaving a clear need for a creative winger on the left to make his system sing.
Enter Jonathan Bamba, who joined from Celta Vigo on a measly reported $2million fee that looks downright spendthrift compared to some of the club's past outlays under his sporting director predecessor, Georg Heitz.
A former France youth international, Bamba has earned 10 caps with the Ivory Coast since making his commitment in 2023. The 28-year-old was a mainstay at Lille for half a decade, making 167 appearances in Ligue 1 before joining Celta Vigo in 2023. He was a regular in his first season but has been a bit part player in his second season under new coach Claudio Giráldez.
In his first season, Bamba showed the exact left-sided creative prowess that Berhalter's system can further enhance. His 1.72 chances created per 90 in 2023-24 is a steady figure in its own right, nestling right between the 2024 season rates of Joseph Paintsil (1.76) and Denis Bouanga (1.67). Bamba was an excellent passer in the final third last season, with his 79.6% completion clip ranking second among all wingers in La Liga, displaying a keen eye and clever execution when it matters most.
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Factor in that Celta Viga is a mid-to-lower table outfit in La Liga, and there's reason why Berhalter may hope to see improvement over that clip in a more wide-open league like MLS.
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In a more rotated role this season, Bamba has seen his share of touches in the box cut in half, while his touch share in the attacking third has dropped from 45% in 2023-24 to 35.4%. That decreased involvement in the final third helps explain his diminished chance-creation tally, especially given how right-sided Celta's system skews thanks to Iago Aspas and Oscar Mingueza.
I like this move for Chicago. Bamba is a consistent operator in transition and set periods of play alike. He has a high rate of attempted take-ons, which should help buy Cuypers more time to get into optimal spaces of the box.
There's a lot to like about the Fire's first window with Berhalter controlling the sporting direction of the club. Before Bamba was signed, center-back Jack Elliott was a shortlisted option for this series as he brings steady defensive nous from his time with Philadelphia. In total, it's easy to see the Fire make a similar jump to Charlotte's last season: going from a fringe play-in contender to a team that could threaten to advance from the first round with a good matchup.
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For all his detractors among USMNT fans, Ferreira has had many fine years in MLS despite his youth. The FC Dallas homegrown struggled for confidence at times in 2023 following the World Cup in Qatar, while thigh strains plagued him throughout 2024. He managed to score just five goals across 1,323 minutes, a far cry from the 18 goals that made him the 2022 MLS Young Player of the Year.
Seattle came calling with $1.5million of GAM, while Dallas could net another $800,000 of GAM if he meets certain performance metrics. It's a lofty price, but the logic is obvious. Ferreira knows how to score in MLS, he's still very young and he has among the highest upside of any domestic striker in the league, which opens an international slot for another member of the roster.
As the 2024 season reached its business end, the Sounders were among the steadiest teams in MLS. Seattle lost just one of its final 11 games, keeping six clean sheets and curating a +11 goal differential.
Of course, that one loss was in the Western Conference final, and three of their six wins were decided by a single goal (as was their defeat). Their ability in possession, in defensive phases, and in build-up wasn't the issue: they just lacked the kind of decisive goalscorer that carried the LA Galaxy and other MLS contenders in close contests.
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Now, Seattle has two of the best American MLS strikers of the past decade, as he joins Jordan Morris after his USMNT teammate put in one of the best seasons of his career to date. They'll also be joined by fellow U.S. international Paul Arriola, as well as top-tier playmaker Albert Rusnak, second-year DP Pedro de la Vega and 2024 breakout Paul Rothrock.
Like Morris, Ferreira carries real positional versatility. If Schmetzer sticks with the 4-2-3-1 that brought them to the brink of MLS Cup, he has a lot of title-worthy attacking configurations available. Morris and Ferreira can both play striker while inviting real interplay with the next line beneath them. Morris, Rusnak, and Rothrock are all clear upgrades at left wing over last year's starter, since-departed Leo Chu. De la Vega, Rusnak and Ferreira can all operate as a No. 10, while Arriola and de la Vega are fine options on the right.
I like this move for Seattle. With Obed Vargas still in midfield alongside Cristian Roldan and Josh Atencio waiting in the wings, there's genuine depth in all areas that would start on other playoff teams. As it stands, with the Galaxy operating for much of 2025 without Riqui Puig and Los Angeles FC still figuring out how to incorporate Olivier Giroud, the Sounders may well be the preseason favorite to win the West.
After Puig tore his ACL in the conference final, it was up to his Galaxy teammates to make up for his ingenuity when pulling the strings. Up stepped Gaston Brugman, who played an assist nearly as good as Malte Amundsen's in the previous MLS Cup to break the New York Red Bulls' spirit before they could settle into the game.
It was an excellent reminder of the Uruguayan's quality. Last year's meniscus tear kept him from starting regularly in 2024, often rotating with Mark Delgado to supplement Puig and Edwin Cerrillo. If you watched the Galaxy even once, you know this wasn't a team that relied on the long ball. And yet, Brugman's 75.3% accuracy when dishing over 35 yards is a clip that'll play well in any line-breaking system — which is great news for Nashville, which is often at its best when it can get Hany Mukhtar in transition.
Those line-breakers are a major part of Brugman's game. Of the 89 midfielders who have racked up at least 1,800 minutes over the past two seasons, only seven have a higher 'big chance' creation rate than Brugman's 23.5% clip — right around Vargas and Colorado's criminally underrated string-puller, Connor Ronan.
The opening assist in MLS Cup also reminded the league of his ability to play quick one-two passes in the engine room, while he also has tidy dribbling in the heart of the park. Considering he's only six months older than the midfielder he was traded for (Sean Davis), and it's a clear upgrade in a vital area.
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I like this move for Nashville. Gary Smith's system came crashing down last season for a few reasons, but one was the club's inability to replace Dax McCarty, who is also great at breaking lines as well as playing top-level defensive midfield. They now have their man with Brugman, and that will only be good news for Mukhtar and striker Sam Surridge.
Montréal was one of the biggest unexpected breakout teams of 2024, playing pretty soccer all year long under first-year head coach Laurent Courtois and maximizing post-hype breakthroughs from players like George Campbell and Caden Clark. The jig was up in the play-in round against eventual conference winner New York, but there's reason for optimism heading into 2025.
One major shot in the arm came via trade, as the Galaxy parted with homegrown defender Jalen Neal for $650,000 of GAM and an international slot.
The 21-year-old is among the brightest center back prospects in the USMNT pool, but injuries kept him from making the most of 2024 on all fronts. Having earned six caps (including four at the 2023 Gold Cup), there's an alternative timeline where Neal is anchoring the United States at the Olympics and a major part of the Galaxy's MLS Cup triumph. Instead, Neal missed out of the Olympics squad due to abdominal problems, and was a bench option during the MLS playoffs.
A new year and a new setting could help Neal get even more out of his varied skillset. Across his 1,379 minutes in the regular season and playoffs, Neal ranked fourth among 92 qualified center backs with a 72.7% 'true' tackle win-rate, narrowly edging proven positional peers Miles Robinson and Tristan Blackmon. 'True' tackles combine raw tackle data with instances when a defender is either shaken by the ball-handler or commits a foul in the process. With that in mind, Neal was far more effective than most when attempting a challenge.
The peripheral underlying numbers are also there. His 25% dribble-past right is bang average for the position, while his 56.5% accuracy on long passes nestles him near Blackmon, Noah Eile and Amundsen among the position. He's also well-equipped to play out the back with regularity, a trait that'll serve him well in Courtois' system.
I like this move for Montréal, which suddenly has one of the best American center back tandems outside of Celtic. Having him and Campbell playing in-tandem could do wonders for two of the few bona fide prospects the USMNT has in the position. Regular starts and better refining his defensive chops could put him in a prime position to challenge for the 2026 World Cup squad. If he does, Neal will look back at the amount of GAM it sent to LA as a pittance in exchange for a defensive bedrock.