The expansion draft came and went, leaving many questions in the new landscape of an ever-expanding league. Moving from 29 to 30 teams (15 in the East and 15 in the West), San Diego FC is set to make its inaugural debut on opening weekend at LA Galaxy. Their home debut will take place against St. Louis CITY FC at Snapdragon Stadium on March 1, 2025. But before all the excitement unfolded, there was an essential detail the newcomers had to address – their roster. Many believed this expansion draft would shed light on the potential tactics and formations of this new team. So, what exactly happened? Who was picked? How did this whole thing work? Let’s dive in and recap what transpired.
How the Expansion Draft Worked
On December 11, 2024, the new kids on the Major League Soccer (MLS) block, San Diego FC, selected up to five players of their choosing from a list of about 350 total players across all of MLS. Every team was able to protect 12 players from their senior roster (slots 1-20) and supplemental roster (slots 21-30). Generation Adidas players occupying roster slots 21-24 and Homegrown players aged 25 or younger during the year of the Expansion Draft were automatically protected if they were on a club’s roster at the conclusion of the 2024 MLS season. If a player had a no-trade clause in their contract, their MLS club was required to protect them, and they counted as one of the 12 protected players.
Teams with four or more international players were required to protect at least three of them, excluding any who were automatically protected. Teams with three international players needed to protect two. Teams with only two international players had to protect one. Teams with just one international player were not required to protect that player. Designated Players and other discretionary players were NOT automatically protected.
If a Free Agent was selected in the Expansion Draft, the selecting team was regarded as the player’s “current team” under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) rules concerning Free Agency, while the team losing the player was treated as a “new club.” If the Free Agent declined to sign a contract with the selecting team, that team became eligible for Compensatory Allocation Money, provided it had complied with the CBA’s bona fide offer requirements for free agents.
Teams that lost a player during the draft received $50,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM). However, clubs that qualified for Compensatory Allocation Money (CAM) under the CBA rule for making bona fide offers to free agents did not receive an additional $50,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) if that player was chosen in the Expansion Draft.
Who Did FCC Choose to Protect? Who’s Up for Grabs?
The day before the draft, every team across the league released their list of 12 protected players, and by default, those who would be up for selection. Here are who FCC chose to protect:
Protected Players:
Luciano Acosta
Álvaro Barreal
Pavel Bucha
Roman Celentano
Teenage Hadebe
Kevin Kelsy
Yuya Kubo
Matt Miazga
Obinna Nwobodo
Luca Orellano
Miles Robinson
DeAndre Yedlin
And the Automatically Protected FC Cincinnati Players:
Arquimides Ordoñez (Homegrown Player)
Stiven Jimenez (Homegrown Player)
Gerardo Valenzuela (Homegrown Player)
Paul Walters (Homegrown Player)
Many fans were skeptical of some of the protected players, including Kevin Kelsy, whose loan with FCC expired on December 2, 2024, and Álvaro Barreal, whose purchase was not picked up by Brazilian club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, to which he was loaned in March 2024.
The means that the following are up for San Diego FC’s choosing:
London Aghedo
Joey Akpunonu
Yamil Asad
Corey Baird
Isaiah Foster
Nicholas Gioacchini
Nick Hagglund
Bret Halsey
Alec Kann
Kipp Keller
Evan Louro
Malik Pinto
Alvas Powell
Sergio Santos
The list of unprotected players has also received mixed reviews, noting some high profile potential losses including fan favorites Nick Hagglund and Yamil Asad. Remember, only 5 players from ALL of MLS will be selected in this draft.
Who Ended Up Being Chosen?
The draft went live on San Diego FC’s YouTube at 10:30pm EST/7:30pm PST. The sizable crowd was ready, the hosts, Matt Doyle, Andrew Wiebe, and Calen Carr, were hyped, and the stage was set. Here are the draft selections:
Heine Gikling Bruseth (Midfielder, Orlando City)
Hamady Diop (Defender, Charlotte FC)
Jasper Löffelsend (Fullback/Midfielder, Colorado Rapids)
These three were drafted and selected to remain on the team. But SDFC got five picks? Well, that is true. However, they opted to make a deal with each of the final two.
Hosei Kijima (Midfielder, St. Louis CITY FC): Traded him to D.C. United in exchange for $400,000 in 2025 General Allocation Money (GAM).
Thiago Andrade (Forward, NYCFC): Traded him to Toronto FC in exchange for the club’s natural first-round pick in MLS SuperDraft 2025 and up to $250,000 in conditional GAM if certain performance metrics are met. San Diego also retains a percentage of a future transfer fee if Andrade is sold out of MLS by Toronto.
San Diego FC Roster (as of right now)
Chucky Lozano (Forward, PSV Eindhoven)
Marcus Ingvartsen (Forward, FC Nordsjælland)
Alex Mighten (Forward, Nottingham Forest)
Tomás Ángel (Forward, LAFC)
Jeppe Tverskov (Midfielder, FC Nordsjælland)
Jasper Löffelsend (Midfielder/Defender, Colorado Rapids)
Paddy McNair (Defender, Middlesbrough)
Chris McVey (Defender, DC United)
Hamady Diop (Defender, Charlotte FC)
Duran Ferree (Goalkeeper, San Diego Loyal)
CJ dos Santos (Goalkeeper, Inter Miami)
How Could This Affect FC Cincinnati?
While FC Cincinnati was spared in this draft, future deals could still be made. FC Cincinnati has some work to do before their set and ready for their season. Questions remain for a number of players on FCC’s roster. This list includes Nick Hagglund, Kevin Kelsy, Luciano Acosta, and Álvaro Barreal. What will Chris Albright and his team decide to do? Will any deals be made in the near future with this new club on the block? The budget is tight, and contract issues still exist for some fan favorites and notable players. Only time will tell as we patiently wait to see where the front office of FC Cincinnati will go from here and what’s in store for the team who seek to gear up for success.
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