What to expect from the Canadian MLS teams in the secondary transfer window?
It’s a big week in MLS, as their secondary transfer window has opened as of Thursday, July 24th, setting up a crucial month of business for teams across the league.
With most teams sitting well past the halfway point of their season at this stage, it’s a good time for them to take stock of where they’re at, as they figure out what they need going forward. Because of that, it’s expected that we see a lot of wheeling and dealing over the next month, as sides begin to shift their eyes towards the business end of the regular season campaign and the start of the MLS Cup playoffs.
Plus, this is usually a pretty good window to do business in, too. Often, with most European leagues sitting on a fall-to-spring calendar instead of MLS’s spring-to-fall model (which could soon change), the summer window is a great opportunity for MLS players to bring in players from those leagues on better deals than they might get from them in the winter.
Both in terms of the players available on free transfers, as well as those who are available for cheaper prices with teams better able to secure replacements, this is a great time for teams to make aggressive swings to improve their team in the short and long term.
Because of that, here’s a look at what all three Canadian MLS teams might look to do over the next month, as they stand to be quite busy, but for different reasons - as seen below.
Vancouver Whitecaps:![MLS: Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Houston Dynamo FC]()
The Whitecaps find themselves at an interesting crossroads heading into this window, as they continue to navigate what’s been a pretty impressive season to date.
As it stands, they sit sixth in all of MLS and second in the Western Conference, setting them up to make a legitimate push for the Supporters' Shield over their last 11 matches, which is impressive given that they’ve also navigated a run to the Concacaf Champions Cup final, as past MLS sides who have made deep runs in the CCC have often paid for it with their league results.
Along with their progress to the semi-finals of the Canadian Championship, the Whitecaps have the potential to finish the season strong, with the bare minimum expectation being that they lift a fourth straight Voyageurs Cup, with the bigger goal being to get their hands on a Supporters Shield or MLS Cup.
To do that, however, they’ll have to bolster their squad. They’ve done well to achieve what they’ve done up until this point, despite dealing with a litany of injuries, but they now face some pressure to fill out their team, as they’ve got several players in their primes, making this as good as a time as any to go ‘all-in’ to try and maximize (and potentially extend) their contention window.
Already armed with some flexibility, as they entered 2025 with the model that allowed them to run with two Designated Players and four U22 Initiative players, meaning they had spots open given that they only had two DPs (Ryan Gauld, Andrés Cubas) and two U22 players (Édier Ocampo, Pedro Vite) on the books. Either they could get two U22s, or they could swap to a 3DP+3U22 model, allowing them to get one DP and one U22 player, but they had the ability to make a couple of big swings, either way.
For a moment, they had even more flexibility, as they sold Vite to Liga MX side Pumas UNAM for a reported fee of around $6 million USD per Transfermarkt, which bolstered their transfer coffers and opened up a U22 spot.
They’ve already filled Vite’s U22 spot, bringing in Peruvian youngster Kenji Cabrera, and that’s expected to be the first of many moves they make. Given that they sit armed with two international spots and the possibility to either bring in one DP+one U22 player or U22 players, they’re expected to make some more moves.
From Peru to Vancouver. 🌊
— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) July 22, 2025
Midfielder Kenji Cabrera officially joins the Blue & White through 2028, with a club option for 2029! ✍️#VWFC | 📰: https://t.co/y4ptsvc6dj pic.twitter.com/pi1GD4i7J9
Of course, the bigger question will be to see what profiles they target. Cabrera was a good coup, as he bolsters a midfield group that was light after Vite’s departure, but the Whitecaps will likely need some help at the back, given that they’ve lost left back Sam Adekugbe and centre back Ranko Veselinovic to season-ending injuries, which are two huge holes to fill.
Because of that, they’ll want to at least target some centre back and full back depth, likely scouring the domestic market to fill those holes, with the other priorities being to target another midfielder and someone for the frontline.
Should the Vancouver Whitecaps look to #CanPL for help reinforcing an injury-ravaged backline? 👀
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) July 24, 2025
And which players could step up right away and help in MLS? ⬆️
▶️ https://t.co/774CDmtWOt pic.twitter.com/GLaPDLHnMD
What will be interesting is to see how they use their potential DP/U22 spots to do chase the latter two positions, although it could make sense for a DP to come in midfield (making it interesting to see them linked with attacking midfielder Thomas Müller this week), with a U22 attacker also making more sense given the profile of their current attackers - although a U22 defender could also be a wise long-term play.
No doubt, though, that the Whitecaps have some more wheeling and dealing to do, as one would expect them to target at least three more players by the end of this window. They’ve proven they’re willing to get busy in the summer - key players like Ryan Gauld have arrived in past summer windows, while the summer of 2023, where they signed Adekugbe, Richie Laryea and Junior Hoilett, is an example of what they could try to do to bolster their squad, so stay tuned.
If they can hit on those signings, that could set them up nicely for a strong finish to the season, especially with the pending returns of Gauld from a long-term knee injury and Ali Ahmed from an ankle sprain, which will only help this team push forward.
Toronto FC:
Might there be a more fascinating team in MLS to watch this transfer window than Toronto FC? It’s hard to think of many others, as TFC literally have a clean slate with which to work after they bought out Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi at the start of this month.
After that move, they’ve now got no DPs on the books, and essentially no U22s (Cassius Mailua is on the books and was just on loan, although he seems unlikely to return), giving them all sorts of flexibility to play around with.
For a club that has proven they’re willing to spend on big names, that’s exciting to watch, as they could theoretically acquire some combination of six DPs and U22s by the end of this window, depending on the model they choose (they currently sit with the two DP, four U22 model).
At the same time, after how the last four years have gone, with TFC among the worst teams in MLS over that span, which also saw them have three consecutive bottom-two finishes between 2021 and 2023, throwing money recklessly won’t be the way to go. That was the entire problem with the era of the high-priced Italians, as they built an old and unbalanced team not fit for the rigours of MLS.
"FINALLY."
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) July 2, 2025
Lorenzo Insigne & Federico Bernardeschi have been CUT by Toronto FC, and @GarethWheeler reveals more details on how #TFClive orchestrated their exit... and what happens next 👀
FULL ▶️ https://t.co/lreQvKeFiZ pic.twitter.com/Q4OTQCCeTA
Because of that, this window will be about prudence for TFC. They should at least try and bring in a couple of players, but they will have to make sure that they don’t just throw money at the first big name willing to come to Toronto, and instead make sure they acquire the right players for the short and long-term future of the club.
Ideally, they take a look around MLS and take notes, as long gone are the days of older stars dominating the league, Inter Miami aside (and even they’ve surrounded their aging stars with a lot of young talent, something that TFC struggled to do over the past few years), so fans will hope recent rumours of a signing like Jay Brownhill isn't true, as that doesn't really fit that mould.
In terms of priorities, building a spine will be key, so look for Toronto to sign a centre back, a defensive midfielder and a box-to-box midfielder. From there, they’d also love to rebuild their attack after the departure of Insigne and Bernardeschi, although it remains to be seen if they’ll specifically target a striker, a winger, a #10 or something else (some might argue they could use players at each of those positions).
As for what those players might look like, Toronto would be wise to look at a club like FC Cincinnati, who have splashed the cash to build a Supporters' Shield-level team but have instead targeted younger players like Evander and Kévin Denkey. Given that Cincinnati was where TFC were a few years ago, languishing at the bottom of the table without any direction, it shows that a turnaround is possible, but it’s all about smart investment.
It’ll also take a few windows to undertake that process, which is why it’s likely that TFC only starts to get the ball rolling this window, before continuing that process into the winter and next summer.
One challenge they face, however, is that they have just two international spots available, so another priority will be to open up some more spots in that department, especially if they’re to make any big swings.
Should Toronto FC fill one or both of their now-open DP spots this summer? ✍️
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) July 21, 2025
Or should #TFClive regroup through the rest of 2025 and sign their next stars in the winter window? 👀
▶️ https://t.co/HkPHUL8yrG pic.twitter.com/pMuJVVNit2
Yet, that’s not a bad thing - it will encourage them to take some safer swings on domestic talent (like they did with Theo Corbeanu this offseason), which can help them build a spine and rebuild their culture, setting the table for some bigger DP swings down the road, especially as they start to move some of their older players off the books, and decide what to with loan players such as Oly Brynhildsen and Maxime Dominguez.
At the same time, it would help fan interest to make at least one big move this summer - now it remains to be seen if TFC will make that happen.
CF Montréal:
It’s official: Montréal are now in rebuild mode, as they told fans in a surprise statement on Wednesday. Granted, most would’ve suggested they were already rebuilding, given that they sit last in MLS in 2025 with just 15 points from their first 24 games, but that statement at least confirms that they’re not happy with where they’re at and are looking to take actionable steps to correct their current trajectory.
The challenge with Montréal, however, is that they remain a team that hasn’t been the most willing to invest to try and change their fortunes, even despite a slew of impressive outgoing sales, such as Nathan Saliba and George Campbell this seaosn. Once again, they sit last in all of MLS in their salary expenditures, and have just one DP on their roster in Giacamo Vrioni, showing that some of their struggles have been self-inflicted.
Of course, they’ll point to a team like the Whitecaps, the Philadelphia Union and Minnesota United, who all have competed despite having smaller payrolls, but even those teams have proven willing to make big moves at the top of the roster. Where those teams have succeeded, in particular, is in identifying players who have come in for reasonable prices and provided high-level impact for modest transfer fees and salaries.
For Montréal, who has been reluctant to shell out those transfer fees despite making several big sales over the last few years, that has hurt them, as they’ve lacked the top-end talent to compete with other teams in MLS.
Homegrown Canadian midfielder Nathan Saliba departs @cfmontreal for @rscanderlecht. 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/pyeEsI3F6o
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 26, 2025
Despite that, there are other ways to attract talent, and Montréal have continued to target them. Just this week, they acquired a player via a familiar method, trading for Atlanta United homegrown Efraín Morales, showing that they’re looking to bolster their squad.
Overall, though, their approach has been to take a lot of low-risk fliers on youngsters, be it from inside their academy, around MLS or from abroad, and hoping they hit. Granted, they’ve had some success with that, especially in terms of selling those players on for profit, but their challenge has been to build a team that can push higher up the table, as it’s easy to find good players that way, but harder to find great ones.
Bienvenue Efraín 🤝
— CF Montréal (@cfmontreal) July 23, 2025
Le CF Montréal fait l'acquisition du défenseur Efraín Morales d'Atlanta United >>> https://t.co/eQap9gXcsL
CF Montréal acquires defender Efraín Morales from Atlanta United >>> https://t.co/dU0C7rf5KM#CFMTL pic.twitter.com/c4vkUoD8pq
Because of that, it feels like they should have two big goals this summer - to find some clarity on the coaching side, where Marco Donadel remains as the interim coach, as they’ll need to either commit to him long-term or find someone else, and then perhaps insulate their younger squad with more veterans.
If they’re going to try and compete while being a selling club, it’s important to have a set identity, and that starts with a coach and a core group of players who will stick around long enough to put that identity in place. By doing that, it can be a good way to turn a good group of players into great ones, especially if you’re not going to go out and chase bigger-money players.
Montréal has roster flexibility - they can target one DP and one more U22 player if they stick with their current two DP/four U22 model, and can target two DPs if they switch to a three DP/three U22 model.
Whether they hunt down those players remains to be seen; however, it feels like it’d serve them well even to look at free agents to add another DP or two to the roster, at the very least.
Lettre aux partisans de Gabriel, Luca et Simone.#CFMTL pic.twitter.com/eke41GbIzu
— CF Montréal (@cfmontreal) July 23, 2025
No doubt, however, is that moves are coming - perhaps, they can find some players with good MLS experience on the trade market, which at least would be a good starting point to help buoy this young and struggling group.
Then, more specifically, bolstering their midfield seems to be a goal after the departure of Nathan Saliba, while the other big priority is to add to their attack - any form of attacking midfielder, winger, or striker would be welcomed for a team that has scored just 20 times in 24 MLS games.
