MLS has seen its first two cash-for-player trades (aka, old-school transfers), with both moves carrying serious implications for the Western Conference.
On Saturday, Sporting Kansas City announced it had acquired Dejan Joveljic from the LA Galaxy. The official release confirmed the Galaxy received $4 million for the 25-year-old Serbian striker, who scored 21 goals in all competitions in 2024, most notable among them the MLS Cup-winning strike against the New York Red Bulls.
The Galaxy initially signed Joveljic (above) from German club Eintracht Frankfurt in August 2021 for a reported $4 million fee. His four seasons in Los Angeles yielded 45 goals and 16 assists, an impressive return considering he spent the first two as second-choice behind Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández. Joveljic has also made seven appearances for Serbia’s national team, scoring twice.
Two days later, the Houston Dynamo announced their own cash transfer, having acquired midfielder Jack McGlynn from the Philadelphia Union.
Although the move carried an announced $2.1 million fee, the calculus around this one is a bit more complicated than “half as valuable as Joveljic”. The Union will retain a 50 percent sell-on percentage, per Give Me Sport’s Tom Bogert, ensuring half of any future transfer revenue if McGlynn leaves Houston for a fee.
However, the Union were already set to owe a sell-on percentage to both the Red Bulls and New York City after skirting MLS homegrown player rules to sign the Queens, New York native to their youth academy in 2019. As a result, both Houston and Philadelphia will give a portion of any future fee for the now 21-year-old to a New York club.
But of course, you aren’t here for a mathematics lesson.
McGlynn could be a serious floor-raising acquisition for the Dynamo, who saw their two best players — Hector Herrera and Adalberto ‘Coco’ Carrasquilla, both central midfielders — leave earlier in the offseason. A two-time USMNT international, McGlynn finished 2024 with four goals and five assists in 2,309 MLS minutes. He can be the Texas team’s focal point in possession with some further room for growth in terms of his chance creation if he is allowed to be the Dynamo’s chief facilitator.
McGlynn also showed his long shooting prowess during the January international window, curling home a left-footed shot from around 25 yards out in the 3-1 win against Venezuela in Miami.
WHAT A MOMENT. WHAT A GOAL!
Jack McGlynn puts us ahead in style!#USMNT x @VW pic.twitter.com/2lVHMGRURJ
— U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team (@USMNT) January 18, 2025
These two moves are the latest in an MLS offseason that’s seen many of its clubs experience serious shake-ups with their rosters.
The Galaxy were already bound to look different in 2025, with star midfielder Riqui Puig set to miss many months as he recovers from surgery on an ACL knee injury. Joveljic joins fellow regulars Mark Delgado, Gaston Brugman and Jalen Neal on LA’s list of departures. As of February 3, the champions have not acquired another starting-caliber striker.
Kansas City will look to Joveljic to replace Alan Pulido, who joined in the 2020 pre-season for a club-record $9 million fee but struggled to provide a good return on that investment. Pulido had just one double-digit goalscoring year, the 14 he got in 2023, missed all of the 2022 season with a knee injury and often struggled to come through in big moments the way well-paid strikers are expected to do.
The 33-year-old rejoined previous club Chivas Guadalajara last month for a fee that was reportedly less than a fifth of what Kansas City initially paid.
Jack McGlynn is swapping Philadelphia for Houston. (Brian Fluharty / USA TODAY Sports)
While two moves hardly make a trend, Joveljic and McGlynn fit the archetype of the player who was expected to be eyed for cash trades. MLS made a change to its rules in January, letting clubs pay cash fees in order to acquire players from within the league, so allowing a healthier interleague market for players devoid of returns built on allocation money and other league-specific considerations.
They both play in vital areas of the field and are under the age of 25. Both have proven they can perform at a high level in MLS, which increases their value compared to somebody who hasn’t yet played in the league. Both have the upside to potentially earn another transfer in the years to come that could provide a good return on investment for the clubs acquiring them now.
We’ll hold off on sweeping and far-reaching assumptions about the cash trade market, but if nothing else it’s a relief that the first moves already laid bare the fees that changed hands between the clubs.
It’s the kind of transparency that MLS has been working to improve over the past few years, and makes analyzing this budding market far more intriguing.
(Top photo: Harry How/Getty Images)
