We’re just days away from the start of MLS preseason, and less than a month-and-a-half from first kick. The offseason moves fast, folks.
Still, we’re probably months away from the big signings that will define 2026. Lionel Messi arrived mid-season back in 2023, and both Thomas Müller and Son Heung-Min arrived during the summer last year. I wrote, earlier this week, about the global superstars who could be following in their footsteps this year.
That doesn’t mean no work’s been done, however. In fact, I would argue that the most important work – the building out of spines and foundations – is what the winter window has traditionally been used for. And it’s certainly what we’ve seen over the past month, since Messi & Friends lifted MLS Cup 2025 presented by Audi.
With that in mind, here are the four most important moves of the MLS offseason so far, ones that might truly determine who lifts a trophy or two. And in a massive shift, most of them are intraleague free-agent signings.
Feels like a true turning point.
Cristian Espinoza being a free agent in the first place was not supposed to happen: the Quakes had an option for the 2026 season that they didn’t exercise. When they came back to the table to try to keep the Argentine winger – one of the very best players in club history, with 39g/70a in 236 appearances across all competitions over seven seasons – he declined.
And now he’s here, in Nashville, with a team that has desperately needed a third match-winner to climb into the ranks of the league’s true elite. They’re really close; remember, they won the US Open Cup last year. But there’s still another level to hit, as Inter Miami reminded them in Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Espinoza should move the ‘Yotes towards that goal. He’s a true right winger (meaning he doesn’t play inverted; he’s right-footed and tends to stay wider, and is one of the best crossers of the ball the league’s ever seen), and is a perfect fit around the club’s other two DPs. That’d be true No. 9 Sam Surridge and former Landon Donovan MLS MVP Hany Mukhtar, who operates sometimes as an orchestrating No. 10 but, more often, as a kind of second forward.
Here’s a map of all of Espinoza’s passes in attacking sequences that ended with a shot for last year’s Quakes:
You can see where he primarily does his work (and, obviously, that he takes corner kicks). Among all players with 20+ appearances last year, Messi led the league with 0.52 expected assists per 90, as per Opta. Espinoza was No. 2, at 0.42.
I’m just going to talk pure numbers here:
Throughout most of the season, Óscar Ustari was the goalkeeper for Inter Miami. As per American Soccer Analysis’s all-in-one “Goals Added” metric, Ustari netted out as one of the worst ‘keepers in the league, registering -0.19 g+ per 90.
Late in the season, head coach Javier Mascherano made a bold call, benching Ustari in favor of young Rocco Ríos Novo. It took a lot of faith (or a lot of frustration; your call on how you choose to interpret that), but Ríos Novo repaid it with some very good play down the stretch and into the playoffs. He played about 1,500 minutes last year across all competitions and registered a +0.14 g+ per 90, which puts him just outside the top 10 ‘keepers in the league. Good stuff.
Dayne St. Clair won Goalkeeper of the Year and put up a +0.30 g+ per 90. He also sent the Seattle Sounders home with two PK shootout wins in Round One of the playoffs, and has only ever lost one PK shootout in his MLS career.
Miami’s front office has been doing amazing work all offseason (I highly recommend Arman Kafai’s newsletter explaining the cap mathematics behind all the moves they’ve made), upgrading virtually every line of a team that won MLS Cup last year and the Supporters’ Shield the year before.
But getting the league’s best goalkeeper? Taking last year’s biggest weakness and turning it into an almost unmatchable strength?
I don’t think 80 points and a treble are out of the question.
Two months ago, I’d never heard of Mbekezeli Mbokazi, a 20-year-old center back whom the Fire reportedly paid $3 million for this winter in using a U22 Initiative roster slot.
When the move was first rumored, I spoke to some folks familiar with African soccer, and they assured me this was a sure-thing signing. I then watched some clips and was impressed; the scouting report seemed to check out.
But clips are just clips, right? You can make almost anyone look like a star if you’ve got a good enough sample size and an unscrupulous enough editor. That’s the whole point of highlight reels.
Luckily, AFCON was taking place just as all of this was unfolding, and it turns out that Mbokazi had earned himself a starting spot for South Africa. He went 90 minutes in all four games (three in the group and a knockout round loss against a loaded Cameroon attack), and folks, the clips did not lie. Mbokazi is not perfect, but he’s ready. Clearly and obviously.
He’s also a great fit, looking something like the perfect partner for Jack Elliott in the middle of Chicago’s backline. Yes, there is a slight caveat that most of the minutes I’ve seen Mbokazi play have been in a back three, whereas for Chicago, he'll likely spend most of his time in a back four. However, that does not appreciably change my assessment of the overall situation.
The Fire played really, really good ball throughout much of last year, but conceded too many chances and too many goals. Mbokazi’s ability to both scramble in the open field and dominate in his own box means they should be able to keep taking the kinds of attacking risks that made them so good, but can do so with a level of comfort that a single misplayed pass won’t immediately come back to bite them.
This had a lot more title equity before the sad news about Riqui Puig needing another surgery, which knocks him out until 2027 (that’s not 100% official yet, but all the relevant reporting says it’s likely). Now, if the LA Galaxy put him on the Season-Ending Injury list, they can bring in a new DP playmaker to replace him – for a year, anyway – and hopefully, for their sake, that guy can walk into the XI and start dealing.
What is different, though, is that with the additions of Justin Haak and Jakob Glesnes (acquired via trade from the Philadelphia Union), the Galaxy now have the kind of central defense that can keep the floor high no matter what. They were two of the best center backs in MLS last year, and with that pair on hand, it’s very hard to imagine this team will be at all gappy or easy to play through.
The real upgrade here, though, is what Haak delivers on the ball in the build-out:
A huge part of the reason the Galaxy struggled last year was the absence of Riqui. Baked into that, though, was a season-long struggle to build from the backline into high-value spots, using the ball to drag opponents upfield and into positions where they could be stretched out.
Haak was a midfielder until about 18 months ago (he still moonlights as a d-mid), and has retained a midfielder’s comfort on the ball, under pressure. That became a weapon over the course of last season for New York City FC, and I’d wager quite a bit that Greg Vanney immediately weaponizes that distribution in the exact same way.
- FC Cincinnati are reportedly on the verge of signing Ecuadorian wingback Bryan Ramírez, who will presumably slot immediately into the XI in place of the likely departed Luca Orellano.
- Philly spent a club-record transfer fee to bring in young Ghanaian center forward Ezekiel Alladoh. TBD on that one, as his track record is hardly overwhelming. But you can’t knock the ambition.
- San Diego got Lewis Morgan at a cut rate – Red Bull New York are reportedly eating most of his salary – and his ability to play both on the right wing or as a false 9 should provide them with crucial depth if he stays healthy (always a load-bearing “if” with Morgan).
- If LAFC got Jacob Shaffelburg to play as a left wingback in the 3-4-2-1 they mostly used last year, then I love it. If they got him to play as an inverted right winger in a 4-3-3, then I like it a lot less.
