2025 Roster and Transfer Discussion Thread

[gbservis]

Bakrar reportedly left for $2M less than we paid for him. We spent $1M on Risa, and it sounds like he returned to his former club for free. Jovan ($8.6M fee) and Magno ($8M fee) are both out on loan. For a club whose leadership constantly emphasizes the need to "run like a business," it's staggering how much money has gone out the door with little or no return. We're approaching $20M in completely sunk costs—and that doesn’t even include the millions tied up in underperforming players still on the roster.

 

[413Blue]

Bakrar reportedly left for $2M less than we paid for him. We spent $1M on Risa, and it sounds like he returned to his former club for free. Jovan ($8.6M fee) and Magno ($8M fee) are both out on loan. For a club whose leadership constantly emphasizes the need to "run like a business," it's staggering how much money has gone out the door with little or no return. We're approaching $20M in completely sunk costs—and that doesn’t even include the millions tied up in underperforming players still on the roster.

I mean it's not unusual for clubs to have hits and misses in the transfer market. Sure, we've had quite a few misses in recent years and I'm sure we must be in the red during the Lee era, you need to include the broader picture.

 

[gbservis]

I mean it's not unusual for clubs to have hits and misses in the transfer market. Sure, we've had quite a few misses in recent years and I'm sure we must be in the red during the Lee era, you need to include the broader picture.

We can look broader—excluding O’Neill and Nico, since we haven’t seen enough from either to make a fair judgment yet. Below is a list of players Lee has signed for over $1 million:

Mijatović – $8.7M
Ojeda – $7M
Ilenić – $1M
Fernández – $5M
Bakrar – $3M (sold for $1M)
Risa – $1M (transferred out for free)
Thiago Martins – $3.8M (occupies a DP slot)
Talles Magno – $7.5M
Thiago Andrade – $1.6M (no transfer fee out; total loss)
Malte Amundsen – $1.4M (traded for $400K GAM; ~$1M loss)
Acevedo – $2.3M

Lee did make big profits on Taty and Santi, but beyond that, his track record on high-cost signings is abysmal—and it’s a major reason the team is flirting with missing the playoffs for the second time in three years.

Before Nico arrived, the five most expensive player acquisitions in club history were: Jovan ($8.7M), Mitri ($8M), Magno ($7.5M), Ojeda ($7M), and Fernández ($5M). It’s normal to miss on a few signings, but every one of Lee’s high-dollar moves has been a miss. In a capped league like MLS, you simply can’t afford that kind of failure rate and expect to be a real contender.