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From MLS:
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By Sam Jones
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Good morning, y'all. Your pal Sam here. Let's soccer.
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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
TRANSFERS! ONE WEEK (AND SOME DAYS) DOWN
We are nine days into the Secondary Transfer Window and there have already been moves that will resonate for a lot longer than that. Maybe. Have we mentioned there is really no way to ever know how these moves will translate to MLS? Weird league.
Even still, we can run through some of the bigger moves real quick and do our best to figure out what they might mean for the teams they're impacting and MLS writ large. We'll probably be wrong. But you can't fault the effort.
New England and Toronto swap midfielders
New England sent Latif Blessing to Toronto yesterday. Toronto sent Mark-Anthony Kaye to New England yesterday. This is…kind of odd.
Not just because you don't typically see what's essentially a player-for-player swap. But because somehow both sides decided this move made them better. Both Kaye and Blessing have proven over their time in MLS that they can be good players, but I think it's fair to say they haven't produced recently the way we've seen them produce in the past. And by the past, I mean back when they were in the same midfield at LAFC.
Remember, Blessing arrived in New England just a few months ago. The move feels abrupt for the Revs. On top of that, both players' salary cap hits are virtually the same. But until we learn otherwise, we have to operate under the assumption that the Revs feel Kaye's skill set will better translate to their midfield and vice versa. It's a strange one.
It is clear Toronto are working to reshape their midfield though. The group hasn't lived up to standards this year, yet, to be fair, you could say that about the entire team. In addition to Blessing, they picked up Atlanta United's Franco Ibarra on loan last week. Ibarra started the majority of Atlanta's games this year and, if anything, knows how to put in a tackle. He seemed to be improving and there's a reason he's the only one of Atlanta's four (out of three allowed!) U22s they could actually find a taker for. Will he and Blessing be enough to pull Toronto out of a rut?
(Nope, don't think so, still think they're going to finish near last place in the East.)
NYCFC get their forward
This one had been coming. NYCFC added U22 Initiative forward Mounsef Bakrar from Croatian top-flight side NK Istra 1961 earlier this week. It's the kind of move pretty much everyone agreed they should have made in the Primary Transfer Window. They had a clear need at striker and a U22 spot available. They didn't make a move though and their attack has sputtered.
NYCFC are tied on points for 20th place in the league and have scored just 24 times on the season. Two-thirds of MLS teams have scored more goals than a club that's accustomed to having a consistent and dynamic attack. And it's hard to really be convinced this move will alter things drastically. U22s are far from sure bets. They'll not only need Bakrar to come good, but come good immediately if they want to make the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. It's the right move, but nothing is a given.
A new DP in Colorado
Speaking of moves that could potentially be too little too late, Colorado have acquired striker Rafael Navarro from Brazilian champions Palmeiras on a 12-month loan with a purchase option. The Rapids are the lowest-scoring team in the league (16 goals) and are currently last in the league standings. It's not great that they're just now adding a DP, and he theoretically may not be around for the entirety of 2024, but this should help them in the final third.
Atlanta continue renovations
In addition to the unforced error that caused Franco Ibarra's loan, Atlanta United have already made a couple of other big moves with more seemingly on the way.
First, they traded left back Andrew Gutman to Colorado. It's a solid move on the Rapids' part to grab a chaotic attacking presence like Gutman and a little more questionable move on Atlanta's part to lose an effective player. To be fair, Gutman has been flawed defensively at times. And he's only under contract for another year. They got a return and cleared some cap space while they could, and will now shift rising star Caleb Wiley back from the wing to his long-term position at left back.
They also brought in a new midfielder: Tristan Muyumba from EA Guingamp in France. There's zero way to know how he'll translate to the league, but the team has described him as "all-action." He seems to be able to cover ground at speed and that alone should make him an improvement in Atlanta's midfield.
Pukki joins Minnesota
You're probably well aware already, but Teemu Pukki joined Minnesota as a DP striker. Finland's all-time leading scorer has already made his first start and scored his first goal. It seems like an excellent fit and maybe Pukki can be a catalyst for a team that's significantly underperformed their underlying numbers at times this season. If he can continue to build on an already solid start, the Loons will be a quietly dangerous playoff team.
Jim Curtin stays in Philly
Perhaps the biggest move of the window so far isn't a transfer. Earlier this week, head coach Jim Curtin signed a contract extension with the Union that keeps him in Philly through 2026.
I don't know if y'all have noticed, but the Union have a pretty good thing going. When you have the kind of success via continuity they've had over the last few years, you better do everything in your power to make sure that continuity continues. I know I've said in the past that managers rarely matter much and I still believe that. But there was zero reason for Philadelphia to ever consider disrupting the delicate ecosystem that's turned a low-spending team into one of the league's most consistently excellent teams. The fact it took this long to get a deal done is surprising. The fact that they got it done at all is really bad news for the rest of the Eastern Conference.
AND OTHER THINGS
THE READING RAINBOW
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