It’s a bit of an oddity that MLS has, effectively, two different trade deadlines. Rosters are frozen five weeks or so before the end of the season, but even beyond that, there are only two designated transfer windows during which Minnesota United can add players.
The secondary transfer window (July 24-Aug. 21 this year) is often when bigger-name players from Europe arrive, since that’s the European offseason. But the primary transfer window closes Wednesday, so the Loons take on FC Dallas on Saturday knowing this is the team’s last chance to reinforce the squad — at least until the season is almost three-quarters over.
The Loons are in a good spot, with a seven-game undefeated streak and a relatively healthy team. There are no obvious holes in the lineup. But every team needs more depth — and the Minnesota United front office is developing a pretty good track record of finding players who can contribute quickly. Four of the team’s 11 starters against Toronto last weekend were players who joined the Loons either in last summer’s transfer window or during the offseason.
Even without obvious needs, though, the Loons have two areas in which they could look to improve — and one potential mistake they need to avoid.
First, the Loons have to be on the market for another right wingback to back up Bongokuhle Hlongwane, who’s played almost every minute this season. DJ Taylor is the primary backup, but it seems clear that the team sees Taylor as more of a traditional right back in a four-man defensive unit, rather than as the dynamic sort of wingback who manager Eric Ramsay values on both sides of a five-man backline.
As Taylor dealt with injuries last year, the Loons tried Caden Clark last season, then traded him. They signed Matúš Kmeť last summer, checked him out in training, then loaned him out before he ever played for the first team. Perhaps the third time’s the charm?
Second, despite having two strikers in the Golden Boot race, the Loons don’t have much in the way of depth at forward. Minnesota’s two-forward formation does mean they always have the option of playing with a single center-forward instead, if either Kelvin Yeboah or Tani Oluwaseyi is missing. That said, they didn’t do so when Oluwaseyi was gone with Canada.
Behind those two, the Loons don’t have a foolproof option. Sang Bin Jeong, theoretically the third striker, doesn’t have a goal, assist or shot on target in 183 minutes this season, and has played less than 10 minutes in the past three games combined.
