WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- NYCFC transfer midfielder Moralez to Racing Club: Midfield maestro Maxi Moralez has left New York City FC after six seasons to rejoin boyhood side Racing Club in his native Argentina. The 35-year-old stands among the best No. 10s in MLS history, memorably helping NYCFC to their first-ever trophy when lifting MLS Cup 2021. He had 26 goals and 69 assists in 162 regular-season games with the Cityzens, joining ahead of the 2017 season as their fourth-ever Designated Player.
- Héber traded to Seattle Sounders: Seattle Sounders FC have acquired veteran forward Héber in a trade with New York City FC. To land the 31-year-old Brazilian, Seattle sent $400,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) split evenly across the next two seasons. NYCFC can pocket an additional $150k in performance-based GAM as well. Héber tallied 30 goals and seven assists in 90 all-competition matches for NYCFC upon arriving in 2019 from Croatian side HNK Rijeka. He tore his ACL in September 2020, but returned late in the 2021 campaign, helping NYCFC win their first trophy (MLS Cup 2021) and later capture the 2022 Campeones Cup.
- LAFC sign rising Croatian forward Biuk: LAFC have signed forward Stipe Biuk from Croatian top-flight side Hajduk Split. The 20-year-old Croatian youth international has inked a four-year deal through 2026 with a club option for 2027. He’s a U22 Initiative player and will occupy an international roster spot for the Black & Gold.
- Gallese signs new contract with Orlando City: Orlando City SC have re-signed goalkeeper Pedro Gallese to a new contract through 2024 with an option for 2025. The 32-year-old Peruvian international, who was out of contract following the 2022 season, has been the Lions' unquestioned starter since his arrival in 2020.
- Charlotte FC transfer forward Ríos to Liga MX’s Chivas: Charlotte FC have transferred forward Daniel Ríos to Liga MX’s Chivas for an undisclosed fee. The 27-year-old joined Charlotte’s expansion season via a February 2022 trade from Nashville SC. He ultimately had seven goals and two assists in 27 regular-season games (15 starts).
- Pellegrini returns to NYCFC via waivers: New York City FC have claimed attacking midfielder Matías Pellegrini off waivers. The transaction returns the 22-year-old Argentine to NYCFC for the 2023 MLS season. He originally joined the Cityzens last August, then played in six matches (70 substitute minutes) off the bench as they made the Eastern Conference Final in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
- MLS remembers Kevin Payne: Kevin Payne, a National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee and D.C. United founding president, died Sunday in Charleston, S.C., of a long-term lung illness. He was 69.
SMALL-SIDED: NEW YEAR, NEW NEW THINGS TO TALK ABOUT
Annnndddd we’re back.
Happy New Year, y’all. I hope you enjoyed your break from the newsletter. I spent that time coping with not having a newsletter to write, specifically by sending members of my family newsletters entitled “Here’s what I do for my job, a 10-part breakdown.” They still don’t understand what I do, and I should probably get some help for this newsletter problem. Anyway, New Year, same Daily Kickoff. Let’s get into the biggest stories in MLS over the break.
1. Seattle moves for Heber
I’m not going to lie, I balked at this one at first glance. From my 10,000-foot, east-coast biased influenced view, Seattle sending some GAM to get a 31-year-old striker a couple of years removed from an ACL tear who made $914k in guaranteed compensation in 2022 so they could have an adequate backup striker is a choice. I think I’m largely still operating with that as my base read of this.
However, a closer look makes it a little more palatable overall – or at least easier to see the thought process behind the move.
Heber isn’t going to start over Raul Ruidiaz. And if Heber is making similar money to his 2022 salary this year, that’s a chunk to pay for a backup striker. But Ruidiaz made just 14 starts in 2022. And 24 in 2021. And 17 of Seattle’s 22 games in 2020. And 20 starts in 2019. If you’re keeping track there, Ruidiaz has started 75 of a possible 124 regular season games with Seattle. It’s not like he’s been AWOL for four years, but he hasn’t exactly been a workhorse. At 32 years old, it’s highly likely Ruidiaz will miss some time this year.
Heber, in a backup role for most of 2022 with NYCFC, put up eight goals in 30 appearances and nine starts at a pace of about 0.66 goals per 96 minutes. Combine that output with Ruidiaz’s nine goals in 2022 and you have a 17-goal striker. It’s not ideal that you have to pay two folks a significant amount to get that production at striker, but at least, in theory, it’s better than not getting that production at all.
It’s also important to note that Seattle didn’t lock themselves into anything long-term here. The fusioned striker experience of Heul Ruideber could only last a year. Heber’s contract runs through 2023 with an option for 2024, and Ruidiaz’s contract lasts through 2024. If it doesn’t work, it’s not like they’ve hamstrung themselves with lengthy deals for aging players. If they didn’t feel the need to use what they’re paying Heber elsewhere on the roster, then it’s not going to hurt them much to overpay a little for proven production at an important backup spot.
There’s a lot more to get into here with Seattle and the pros and cons of an already aging roster getting a little older. For now though. we’ll just say the Sounders paid a little extra to feel a little safer in the short-term and that’s probably ok.
2. Uhhh so hey, it’s time to talk about NYCFC, huh?
Maybe we were so focused on the CF Montréal crumbling around us we couldn’t see the NYCFC imploding right in front of our faces?
There are obviously a few key differences in what’s happening with both teams this offseason. NYCFC has a proven record of bouncing from one season to the next with consistently high point totals, while Montréal is trending downward after their first truly excellent year in MLS. However, it’s time to start mentioning NYCFC’s roster teardown in the same breath.
Anton Tinnerholm, Heber and Nicolas Acevedo are gone for sure. Sean Johnson and Alexander Callens are both free agents. Santiago Rodriguez’s loan from Montevideo has ended. And now Maxi Moralez is no longer an NYCFC player. That’s an absolutely wild sentence to write.
And it’s a sentence that means NYCFC have rapidly turned into one of the most fascinating teams of the offseason. Again, it’s perhaps not quite as worrying as watching other teams go through extreme moments of transition. NYCFC’s extensive scouting network – thanks to being in the City Football Group network of teams – gives them a significant advantage in finding quality players. But that’s a ton of talent to replace, and there are approximately zero moves in MLS that are surefire – including their recent move to bring back former Inter Miami DP Matias Pellegrini.
It’s not time to panic. It is time to start staring at NYCFC very intensely while waiting to see how they sort all of this out by the time opening weekend comes around.
3. LAFC are doing LAFC things again
[WARNING: MLS ROSTER RULES DISCUSSION MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR WELL-BEING. TURN BACK NOW.]
I realized something new last week, so I figure it might be new to some of y’all too. U22 players aren’t determined in the same way other players on the roster are. I knew that U22 players only took on a budget charge of either $150k or $200k as long as their salaries clocked in below the maximum salary budget charge ($612.5k). However, I never considered that, unlike other players, transfer fees have absolutely no effect on their roster designation. As long as the salary is below that maximum threshold, the transfer fee can be as big as it needs to be.
The official wording is: “In addition, Clubs may pay, without limit, additional amounts in the form of acquisition fees (i.e. transfer or loan fees).” If we lived in a world where 18-year-old Barcelona midfielder Gavi desperately wanted to come to MLS, a team could pay his $1 billion transfer fee and still have him be a U22 as long as he was making $612.5k or less a year.
Anyway, the reason I realized this is because LAFC just shelled out a reported $6.94 million transfer fee for rising Croatian star Stipe Buik and put him on a U22 deal. As far as I can tell, this is the biggest-ever transfer fee for a U22 player by a considerable amount. Because of course it is.
I don’t even have anything to offer beyond that. It’s just that we’re all stuck staring at LAFC again in awe and wondering how they keep pulling this kind of stuff off. They’re outpacing the rest of the league right now when it comes to roster building, thanks in part to an ability to convince players to take salary-cap-friendly deals, and it doesn’t seem like they’ll slow down anytime soon.
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