On Wednesday evening (7:30 pm PT | Watch), the offseason roster-building event allows San Diego FC to select five players from existing MLS rosters before their debut in February.
Now, SDFC can’t pick just anyone – the other 29 teams in MLS can protect 12 players from their respective rosters. From there, sporting director Tyler Heaps and the rest of the club’s technical staff can select up to one eligible player from each team.
With only seven players officially signed to San Diego’s year-one squad (as of publication), the Expansion Draft provides Heaps & Co. a huge opportunity to add talent and depth.
Puts on sporting director hat… Who should they select?
Fresh off helping Inter Miami set the single-season points record, Julian Gressel would be a major asset for San Diego.
The 30-year-old’s best position is right wingback, allowing him to push high into the attack and deliver pinpoint crosses to forwards crashing inside the 18-yard box. Still, he’s positionally flexible: Gressel can play as a central midfielder and right winger, though he’s better as an arriver than a one-v-one creator.
Gressel is on a fairly large contract, relative to many of the eligible players in Wednesday’s Expansion Draft – he made just over $1 million in guaranteed compensation in 2024, according to the MLS Players Association. But Gressel’s elite chance creation makes him such an intriguing option. He finished in the 94th percentile in expected assisted goals per 90 minutes among MLS midfielders this past season, as per FBref.
Gressel’s service into the box is a top-of-the-line trait. You don’t tend to find many of those in the Expansion Draft.
A far less heralded name in MLS circles, Iuri Tavares is just the sort of cap-friendly, upside-heavy attacker San Diego should snag as they build out depth for 2025 and beyond.
The 23-year-old earned just over $100k in guaranteed compensation in 2024, per the MLSPA. Tavares produced 3g/1a in just under 900 minutes for Charlotte FC, and his underlying numbers popped during his first MLS campaign.
The Cape Verde international has impressive speed and landed in the 82nd percentile in non-penalty xG per 90 among attacking midfielders and wingers in 2024. He also finished ninth among wingers with at least 1,000 minutes in American Soccer Analysis’ goals added metric, which assesses how every touch impacts a team’s chances of scoring and conceding. On that list, Tavares landed above the likes of Joseph Paintsil, Facundo Torres and Cristian Espinoza.
Tavares isn’t the finished product, but he’s worth taking a flyer on. Really, he’s probably worth more than that.
After arriving in Atlanta in August 2023, Xande Silva looked fantastic on the wing. The Portugal native was beating defenders, serving balls into the box and even finding the odd chance for himself. Then 2024 hit. Silva lost his starting job early in the year, got back into the team in the summer and lost his starting job again in the fall.
The 27-year-old is a slightly pricey reclamation project who made just over $600k in guaranteed compensation in 2024, per the MLSPA. But Silva’s floor is quite high. Even in a down year like 2024, he still profiled as a league-average winger based on ASA’s goals-added metric.
If San Diego get the 2023 version of Silva (you know, the one with a stable roster around him and who played with a top-tier creator), they’ll be thrilled. If they get the 2024 version, they’ll be fine. And if they get something in between? They’ll be happy enough.
A talented young player who wasn’t afforded real opportunities at his last club, moving to a development-focused team whose owner also owns one of the most famous academies on the planet and whose coach has an academy background?
For Jovan Mijatović, San Diego FC could be exactly what unlocks his next level.
The 19-year-old attacker was among the hottest prospects arriving in MLS last winter, coming over from Serbia’s Red Star Belgrade after making several UEFA Champions League appearances. New York City FC reportedly paid Red Star $8.6 million for Mijatović, but head coach Nick Cushing only started him twice in the regular season.
Albeit in bits and spurts, Mijatović has shown a lovely first touch, good spatial awareness and clever play on the ball. He’s yet to have his breakthrough moment in MLS, but he’s still well worth the U22 Initiative spot for San Diego.
In his MLS career, Jon Bell has never been a regular starter. He might not be a regular starter if San Diego select him, either. But the 27-year-old has provided a reliable presence for a trio of MLS teams, including St. Louis CITY’s expansion season in 2023.
Most recently, Bell made five regular-season starts for Seattle Sounders FC – and one memorable start on the left side of Brian Schmetzer’s back three in the Western Conference Semifinals at LAFC. The Jamaican international isn’t a flashy center back. But he carries a low budget charge (just over $100k, per the MLSPA) and has experience that would make him a useful addition to San Diego.
Bell would set a high floor at the back end of SDFC’s center back group.
