MLS’ newest club, San Diego FC, made five selections in Wednesday’s expansion draft. The picks weren’t just a key step in their roster construction, it was the club’s entry into the league’s ecosystem as an active participant rather than a looming presence.
In the midweek event, San Diego immediately flipped two of their selections for other resources. Former New York City FC forward Thiago Andrade was sent to Toronto FC for the ninth pick in the SuperDraft, $250,000 of conditional general allocation money (GAM) and a sell-on percentage. Hosei Kijima was plucked from St. Louis City and sent to D.C. United for $400,000 of GAM. The three remaining players will stick around in San Diego, at least for now.
Here is where San Diego’s roster stands now and where sporting director Tyler Heaps, head coach Mikey Varas and the rest of the brain trust must build before their 2025 debut:
Forwards
San Diego already carries two of Varas’ likely first-choice attackers.
Hirving Lozano is the first designated player in club history, a Mexico international who would have been coveted by at least two dozen other clubs in MLS and Liga MX if offered. Lozano will play as an inverted left winger for Varas, who projects to roll out a base 4-3-3 similar to his coaching mentor, former U.S. men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter. Lozano can be a scoring threat with his off-ball movement and breaks beyond the back line but is also a capable chance-creator and facilitator in transitional and static game states.
Lozano, 29, is a star that may be at its dimmest point of any in nearly a decade. He broke out fast, with his head-turning performances with Pachuca as a teen and a young El Tri debut landing him with PSV at 22. A 2019 move to Napoli didn’t quite launch him into the CONCACAF superstar tier alongside Alphonso Davies and Christian Pulisic, instead being a more rotational option in Serie A. He was a shock omission from Mexico’s squad at the 2024 Copa América.
His road to California is similar to that of Carlos Vela, who set MLS alight with Los Angeles FC after stalling out in Europe. It’s also possible that he’ll be more akin to Javier Hernandez’s time with the LA Galaxy: impactful on his day, prone to miss five-10 games a year with injury and suspension, and a goalscorer despite inadequate support around him.
In reality, the scale of his impact will have as much to do with how this squad is built around him as anything of his own doing.
Lozano will look to operate off of center forward Marcus Ingvartsen, who’s currently starting for FC Nordsjaelland in Denmark. At 6ft 2in/187cm, Ingvartsen has the build of an ideal line leader and is a capable shooter, averaging around 2.7 shots per 90 minutes in the Superliga.
Those attempts have only carried an on-frame rate of 34.7 per cent, the same clip that Gyasi Zardes displayed with Austin FC and well below the 41.6 per cent average of MLS center forwards in 2024. Ingvartsen isn’t known to join a forward press and doesn’t have metrics suggesting good passing or link-up acumen, but could keep defenses honest with his eye for goal and free up space in the final third for Lozano.
The other two forwards on the roster are more prospective fliers. Alex Mighten is the latest former USMNT wing prospect to join an MLS expansion club, a path trodden by Josh Gatt and Joe Gyau in recent seasons. The former Nottingham Forest forward hasn’t played regularly since he was 18 (in the 2020-21 season), but is still raw and could offer a late game change of pace as he refines his technical skills. Tomas Angel comes from LAFC, scoring three goals in 1,166 minutes during a loan with USL side Phoenix Rising.
Still needed: a starting right winger, a capable striker to challenge Ingvartsen and proven MLS contributors.
Midfielders
The midfield is far thinner and will be a clear area to prioritize in the coming months.
Jeppe Tverskov comes from Denmark. He leaves the Superliga for the first time as a 31-year-old. A veteran defensive midfielder, Tverskov offers promising chance creation from deep, having registered four assists in 1,336 minutes with Nordsjaelland.
Jasper Löffelsend was highlighted in last winter’s “Moves I Like” series, having joined the Colorado Rapids. The 27-year-old can play defensive midfield as well as both full back positions, providing great versatility for an expansion draft pick. With Colorado and, especially, previous employer Real Salt Lake, the German has proven proactive at tackling opponents with solid short-to-middle distance passing. The Rapids didn’t utilize him much, but he should be good for at least 1,000 minutes.
San Diego also selected Heine Bruseth from Orlando City during the expansion draft. The Norwegian didn’t log a minute during his brief stay in Florida, joining as a U-22 Initiative signing in August from boyhood club Kristiansund. The jump from Norway’s Eliteserien to MLS is steep, so it wasn’t surprising that Orlando viewed him as more of a contributor in 2025 than last fall. It is, however, a possible red flag that they left him exposed to be taken off their hands for the customary $50,000 of GAM so soon after he was recruited. Bruseth could factor in as one of the No 8 roles in Varas’ engine room.
Still needed: No 6 cover, at least one starting Number 8, proven chance creator and a lot of depth.
Defenders
One almost universal weakness of MLS expansion teams has been a lack of defensive depth. Over the past decade, only Atlanta United seemed to get that balance right from the start. San Diego has ample cover from their first waves of moves, especially in central defense.
Andrés Reyes is the headliner here, having joined Inter Miami for its first season before coming into his own with the New York Red Bulls. He was the bedrock of their back line and was sorely missed as a last-minute scratch from their lineup for the MLS Cup final. Tom Bogert reported that San Diego sent the Red Bulls $800,000 of GAM for the Colombian, which is near the GAM market rate for a lead center back.
Reyes still needs to refine his one-on-one defending when the ball’s on the floor, as his poor ‘true’ tackle win rate — that is, how successful his tackles are when factor for fouls committed and challenges lost — drives home.
Still, Reyes is already an experienced MLS defender on successful teams and is only 25 years old. He should be among the most important acquisitions that San Diego will make all winter.
Reyes might partner with Paddy McNair, whose tenure in the English Championship has seen a worryingly steep decline in minutes with each successive season since 2020-21. The 29-year-old Northern Ireland international will arrive with ample rest, and his last full season in England saw him as a dependable stay-at-home aerial defender.
Christopher McVey arrived after one year with D.C. United, where he was given room to roam under head coach Troy Lesesne. The Swede gives a third viable starting option at center back, and one who’s comfortable dribbling in the defensive half while playing just over 40 percent of his passes forward — above league average. McVey and Reyes would be a capable partnership all their own, with Reyes dropping deeper and McVey continuing to be more proactive (see his all-action interventions below), which may leave McNair to help cover at defensive midfield.
Hamady Diop completes the trio of expansion draft picks and is a young player. If his name rings a bell, it’s more likely due to the fact he was taken first overall in the 2023 SuperDraft than the four MLS appearances he has since logged, as Charlotte FC let the 22-year-old develop in MLS Next Pro and on loan with Serbian side FK Čukarički.
Still needed: a fourth dependable center back, two starting full backs and backup full backs.
Goalkeepers
San Diego’s starting goalkeeper is probably not yet on the roster. Both options on the books are current or former United States youth internationals, but neither has been tested at this level.
Duran Ferree is part of the U.S. Under-20s pool, contending for minutes with Gavin Beavers, Adam Beaudry and Julian Eyestone. At 18 years old, the San Diego native is one for the future of the club and, possibly, country.
CJ dos Santos is the veteran here, arriving from Inter Miami. That said, the 24-year-old was surpassed on the depth chart for the team’s Next Pro affiliate, going from a starter in 2022 to making just four appearances last season. Still, he may be ready to stick around as a first-team backup, where he would benefit from additional reps and seasoning behind a veteran before getting his own looks.
Still needed: A starting goalkeeper.
Inevitably, any expansion squad is going to look thin at the offseason’s early stage. That’s especially true for clubs that launch without previous history in the lower divisions. Still, Lozano is the kind of high-end talent that any MLS team yearns to employ. If Heaps can get the calibration right as he builds the team’s midfield, Lozano and a solid trio of center backs represent a steady start to building out an inaugural roster.
(Top photo: Luke Hales / Getty Images)
