De Bruyne? Ramos? San Diego FC drop hint on next major signing

The size of the San Diego FC roster has doubled this week with a raft of new players joining the team through the MLS Expansion Draft.

Ahead of their inaugural season, San Diego were given the choice of 354 eligible players to add to their squad. They opted to signed Heine Gikling Bruseth (Orlando City), Hamady Diop (Charlotte FC), Jasper Loffelsend (Colorado Rapids), Hosei Kijima (St. Louis City) and Thiago Andrade (New York City). The latter was immediately traded to Toronto FC.

San Diego also brought in the impressive Andres Reyes from MLS Cup finalists New York Red Bulls but there are bigger deals in the works. In recent months San Diego have been linked with moves for Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Ramos. Speaking during the Expansion Draft coverage, sporting director Tyler Heaps was asked whether they were close to filling one of the remaining Designated Player slots.

“I told you I’m not sleeping!” Heaps joked. “We’re working on it, we’re definitely working on it. It’ll come. We’re very close, but you know how this industry works. It’s about negotiating, it’s about getting the right price, it’s about getting the right player. We’ve been doing a lot of work behind the scenes with our scouts and our recruitment staff, which has done an unbelievable job.”

With only two months to go until the start of the 2025 season it looks like San Diego will be starting with just two DPs, allowing them to utilise an extra Under-22 Initiative slot and benefit from an extra $2 million in General Allocation Money.

San Diego head coach eyes second Designated Player

The first big-name signing for San Diego was Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano, the Mexican international who has spent the last seven years playing in Holland and Italy. Lozano has been a consistent performer throughout his time with PSV and Napoli and was a major coup for SDFC.

Heaps has previously indicated that the next DP would likely be a right winger or a more central attacking midfielder. Manchester City star De Bruyne would fit the bill and has experience playing in a number of different positions. Head coach Mikey Varas admitted that he is eager to get the next signing confirmed so that he can start working with a fuller squad.

“I think the next step for us is to get our second DP,” said Varas. “We know in our league, when you get your DPs right, you’re competitive. At the same time, we’re looking for a couple more value-based assets that make sure that those DPs have the best chance of being successful.”

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