Five Biggest MLS Moves Last Week | OneFootball

There were 30 announced transfers into or out of MLS last week. But five of them were particularly noteworthy. We cover each one below. For all the rest, check out this story.

IN: Timo Werner

Whoop! There it is!

Thursday morning, nearly two weeks after Fabrizio Romano gave the “Here we go!”, we finally got the official announcement from the San Jose Earthquakes regarding Timo Werner. The German forward had left Red Bull Leipzig and will be headed to the Bay Area. He is under contract through the end of the 2028 season.

While the MLS Press Release on this matter mentions Werner “represents one of San Jose’s biggest-ever transfers” details on the trade remain a little opaque. I can confirm Quakes paid Red Bull New York $50K in GAM to purchase his Discovery Priority. But otherwise, it appears the transfer is a free one. If true, this would be one of the cleverest signings in recent years, at least in terms of fees paid for talent.

Make no mistake, Werner is a world-class talent. He has scored 149 goals and provided 86 assists in 449 professional games. He’s lifted Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup trophies, and started for Premier League sides Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

But can he single-handedly replace the 44 goal contributions lost with the departures of Cristian Espinoza, Josep Martínez and Chicho Arango? That’s a tall ask.

In Other Breaking News

This morning Quakes announced that Chicho Arango will go on loan to Colombia’s Atlético Nacional, through the 2026 season with a purchase option.

This is no surprise to MLS insiders, as some noticed the omission of his name in Quakes pre-season press materials last week.

MOVE: João Klauss

Veteran striker João Klauss has moved from St. Louis CITY to the LA Galaxy, it was announced last Tuesday.

Deal terms for the 28 year old Brazilian were very straightforward: a straight-up cash-for-player exchange of $2,375,000. Klauss notched 12g/2 in 35 games for STL last season.

IN: Mateusz Bogusz

Mateusz Bogusz is returning to MLS exactly one year after he left LAFC to join LigaMX superclub Cruz Azul. This time he eschews the gold and black for Houston Dynamo’s orange.

Pulling the Polish forward into their camp cost Dynamo an initial $6M fee, but has another $4M in add-on incentives at play. Bogusz will occupy a Designated Player roster spot and is under contract through 2027-28. The 24 year-old only had 3g/7a in 39 games with La Máquina, but scored a goal in their thumping win over Vancouver Whitecaps in the Concacaf Champions Cup.

It’s another big move in a very busy summer for Houston after a disappointing 2025 campaign which saw them finishing 12th in the Western Conference and 22nd overall. They slashed their roster by 17 players, and have attracted nine, the busiest of all MLS clubs during the offseason.

IN: Germán Berterame

We speculated on this move a few weeks back, but it was finally confirmed on Friday: Germán Berterame has left Monterrey and is headed to Inter Miami.

The Argentine-born, Mexican-naturalized striker will add his lethal strikes and goal-scoring prowess to a side already oozing attacking strength. Playing alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suaréz had to be appealing to the 27 year old. Miami meeting his $15M release clause didn’t hurt either.

Despite winning their first MLS Cup, Miami have made 21 roster changes – the third most so far in the offseason. Their 11 cut players will save them a cumulative $18M+ in annual salary (mainly due to the retirements of Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets). But to lure the 10 incoming players the club had to spend over $41M in transfer fees, an astounding high figure for an MLS team.

We’ll see if all works out, or if this was just a very expensive boondoggle.

OUT: Alex Freeman

While most clubs were busy bringing talent in, Orlando City went contrary for some big money. They sold defender and USMNT player Alex Freeman to La Liga side Villarreal for a whopping $4M fee.

But wait, it gets better… There’s an additional $3M in add-ons, and Orlando retains a sell-on percentage. If he does well in Spain and attracts top-level club’s eyes, that next move could be a huge financial windfall.