The Week in MLS Transfers: Jan. 25-31

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Hooligan Soccer

·3 février 2026

The Week in MLS Transfers: Jan. 25-31

There was a noticeable uptick in transfers last week. So much, in fact, that we’re splitting up one article and instead publishing two. The other one details the five biggest moves from last week. There are some doozies in there. This one will outline the smaller transactions that might have escaped your notice.

Houston’s Rebuild Continues

Dynamo dropped 17 players, more than another team this offseason. As a result, they’ve been a frenetic rebuild mode. Lost among the massive announcement heralding Mateusz Bogusz’s arrival to La Naranja was another important signing.

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Franco Negri, an experienced Argentine defender, was picked up as a free agent. Negri’s previous stints were at Inter Miami and most recently San Diego FC, where he made nine starts in 18 appearances.

Austin FC Cuts Striker

The first casualty of Facundo Torres’ return to the MLS happened Tuesday when Austin FC waived forward Jáder Obrian. The Colombian made 12 starts for the Green & Black, while appearing in 37 games and recording 1179 minutes across all competitions. He scored once and made an assist in that time.

RSL Go Dutch

Real Salt Lake continue with their busy offseason with the acquisition of Dutch midfielder Stijn Spierings from Denmark’s Bröndby IF. The top-flight club will receive nearly $3M in exchange, according to Transfermarkt. The Alkmaar native brings tactical versatility and experience to RSL’s center, with a career evenly split between attacking and defensive positions. In 305 senior appearances he has scored 45 goals while assisting another 46.

This is RSL’s ninth signing, eight of which have come since Jan. 6. This helps shore up the roster after they parted ways with ten players in November. Another departure this week was Rwan Cruz. Transfermarkt reports that the Brazilian striker returned to his parent club Botofogo back on Jan. 15 and then joined Bulgarian club Ludogorets a day later, so it was only a matter of time before this news dropped. According to reports, the contract termination was mutual. Cruz was a dud for RSL, only registering one assist in his 12 games.

D.C. United Collecting Keepers

Veteran goalkeeper Alex Bono departed New England Revolution and will head south to join D.C. United, the second keeper United has signed this offseason behind Sean Johnson. The 31 year-old Bono was drafted by Toronto FC in 2015, and part of that squad that won the historic treble (MLS Cup, Champions Cup, Canadian Championship) in 2017. It will also be his second stint in D.C., as he spent the 2024 season with United.

St. Louis CITY Gettin’ BUSY!

Lots of news from the STL camp last week. The club sold striker João Klauss to LA Galaxy (read details here) and allowed defender Henry Kessler to sign with Charlotte FC on a free transfer. The only good news here is the $2.6M in salary they’ll save by letting them go.

Inbound, STL welcomed three new faces.

Brazilian defender Rafael Santos joined the backline. Formerly with Colorado Rapids and Orlando City, Santos was one of eight players released by the Rapids back in late November.
They also wooed Mamadou Mbacke, a Senegalese center-back, from Barcelona. He signed for LAFC back in 2021 when he was 18 but plied his trade on loan with Las Vegas Lights and Villarreal’s second team. Loaned to Barça in Sept. 2023, the Catalan powerhouse paid $2.3M to make that move permanent a year later. He played 60 games for Barça’s reserve team before becoming a free agent.
Lastly, they announced the acquisition of Dante Polvara from Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen FC. The 25 year old defensive midfielder helped the Dons lift their eight Scottish Cup last season. A former NYCFC academy product, Polvara attended Georgetown and won the MAC Hermann Trophy in 2021.

NYCFC Racking Up Air Miles

Three big drops from Gotham’s blue team

New York City FC announced the acquisition of Australian defender Kai Trewin from Melbourne City FC. Surprise, surprise… the two clubs are part of the global soccer conglomerate City Group, the largest multi-club ownership consortium in the world. It seems pointless to disclose the deal terms, as it’s all just funneling virtual cash from one sky blue account to another, but NYCFC paid $993K for the 24 year old.
The club also disclosed that forward Julián Fernández, who arrived back in 2023 on a U22 Initiative, will be headed back to Argentina on loan with Rosario Central. It’s an interesting move. While Fernández was hardly prolific, 7g/8a over 77 games, the club’s press release explicitly stated: “This loan provides Julián with an important opportunity for increased playing time in a competitive environment.”
Serbian Jovan Mijatović barely had time to unpack or regulate his circadian rhythm to Eastern Standard after returning from OH Leuven in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League. Today it was announced he’s off to Eintrecht Braunschweig in the 2. Bundesliga until June. Call me a cynic, but this seems to be a step backwards for the forward signed back in 2024 for nearly $10M. Then again, it could just be a bid for playing time, as he only logged 724 minutes in Belgium. And he’s only 20 years old. You can’t get better if you don’t play, right?

All of this activity has me asking: Could a big name forward be inbound?

San Diego Wake Up from Hibernation

After weeks of inactivity, San Diego emerged from winter dormancy and revealed that Paddy McNair was headed to Hull City. The Northern Irish defender was SDFC’s fifth signing, but only made one assist in his 23 appearances. Deal terms were not fully disclosed but SDFC do retain a sell-on percentage.