Luca_de_la_torre_-_asn_top_-__isi_-_usmnt_vs._honduras_-_2-2-22_-_robin_alam Robin Alam/ISI Photos
Transfer breakdowns

Assessing the recent transfers of U.S. players and seeing who could still move

ASN's Brian Sciaretta looks at the American players who moved over the past two weeks and sees who could still move in the coming days.
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
January 29, 2025
9:55 AM

THE JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW draws to a close and there have been a flurry moves ranging from expected to unexpected. For each move, it will give players a new environment, a new coach, new teammates, and a clean slate. Some of the moves are loans, some are permanent transfers. Some have seen players move domestically to abroad, some have move abroad to domestic teams, others have moved with foreign leagues.

In an earlier piece, we went through the moves that happened earlier in January (such as James Sands, John Tolkin, Jonathan Tomkinson and Matai Akinboni). Here are the thoughts on the last few weeks.

 

Luca de la Torre

From: Celta Vigo

To: San Diego FC (on loan)

Luca de la Torre, 26, fell out of favor with RC Celta in Spain after two seasons and 60 appearances. He had a hard-working career abroad that was up and down. He didn’t latch onto Fulham and left for free. He then joined Heracles in 2020 and had to fight off relegation. In his second season there, the club went down. Moving to Celta Vigo was a big step up and in his first two seasons he had to fight off relegations in La Liga. Then in the summer, Celta Vigo hired a new coaching staff and de la Torre was not in the plans.

Now he is moving back to his hometown where San Diego FC is preparing for their first season in MLS. For de la Torre, there are pros and cons. He left home in 2013 to join Fulham’s academy and had been overseas for nearly 12 years. That’s a long time and the opportunity to play at home is special. He also will be a lock starter on San Diego.

People shouldn’t oversell that he had a lot of top options abroad right now. Prospective buyers saw a midfielder that was locked into relegation battle after relegation battle. Not all of that was on de la Torrre, of course, but he was part of it. If he wasn’t looking at a clear road to playing time in a top five European league with a club that wasn’t battling relegation, a far improved MLS (compared with when he left for Europe) is a nice option to play 2500+ minutes this year. He’s also not the only player from Celta making a move to the USA as Jonathan Bamba (who has been more effective that de la Torre) is also with the Chicago Fire.

The con of this move is that de la Torre will probably be moving to another struggling team. For once, it would be good to see him drive a team that top half in its league. SDFC should struggle mightily.

There is also the national team. Sure, his chances would be better if he was playing in a top five European League. But if that avenue wasn’t open to him, he needs to find a place to play a lot. The central midfield pool has become more competitive on the national team but it’s a stretch to say that James Sands, Aidan Morris, Tanner Tessmann, and Lennard Maloney are ahead of him right now. But of course, that can change.

 

Lennard Maloney

From: Heidenheim

To Mainz

Heidenheim has been really bad the past few months and look like a clear favorite for relegation. Maloney was part of their promotion to the Bundesliga and he helped keep them in the top flight while also qualifying for the Conference League. Maloney probably saw this as being as far as Heidenheim can possibly go. Last fall, he refused to sign a contract extension and Heidenheim was essentially forced to sell him since it was the last year of his contract. Last week, he sealed a move to Mainz, which is sitting sixth in the Bundesliga.

What is good about this move is that there is a connection for Maloney at Mainz. When Maloney was playing with Germany’s U-18 team, the team was coached by Meikel Schönweitz.



Maloney isn’t a player who is a fit for every club but it is good that there is a connection between him and Mainz. This will give him a better chance of staying in the Bundesliga. Even if he doesn’t start every or most games, he will continue to play on rotation at least. That makes this a good move as opposed to dealing with relegation and perhaps another season in the 2.Bundesliga.

 

Gavin Beavers

From: Real Salt Lake

To: Brondby

U.S. U-20 goalkeeper Gavin Beavers moved from Real Salt Lake to Brondby last week after the move had been rumored for weeks. This is a very risky move for Beavers as he leaves a Real Salt Lake team where he was a rotational starter. It’s tough for a teenage goalkeeper to play regular first-team minutes and giving that up is a huge sacrifice. Many young American goalkeepers have moved abroad, and it was a big career setback. Gaga Slonina left a starting Chicago Fire gig and his career is in a worse spot.

 

The Danish Superliga is not the Premier League, and it is a good place for young players. But Beavers is taking a risk, but for his sake, you hope he didn’t take the risk too soon.

 

Leo Duru

From: Blackburn Rovers

To: Barrow AFC (on loan)

Leo Duru, 20, is in the mix for the United States U-20 World Cup later this year and at his age, he needs to move from youth soccer and into the first-team world. To make that happen, Blackburn sent him on loan to Barrow AFC of the 4th tier League Two. Early signs are that he will be playing a lot as the club looks to move away from a relegation battle and into midtable. He has started his first two games with the club.

It’s a little disappointing that he has to move to the fourth tier to get these minutes as he looked very sharp with the U.S. U-20 team in the fall. But if it puts him in a better position for next season, it is fine.

 

Nicholas Gioacchini

From: Como 1907

To: Asteras Tripolis

Forward Nicholas Gioacchini, 24, will now be playing in Greece with Asteras Tripolis. He was previously with Como 1907 but was sent on loan to FC Cincinnati last summer. Como has now transferred him to Asteras Tripolis, which currently sits fifth in the Greek Super League and has won its last five games.

Gioacchini’s best season came in 2023 when he stood out for St. Louis City in its inaugural year. His last two stints, Como and Cincinnati, didn’t work out. Perhaps Gioacchini will flourish with a change of scenery. Americans haven’t had much success in Greece, but he should be fine at this level.

 

Freddie Anderson

From: Stoke City

To: Cork City FC

After making his U.S. U-20 debut earlier this month, central defender Freddie Anderson, 18, is going on loan from Stoke City to Cork City in the Irish Premier Division. He made his professional debut earlier this season for Stoke City during the Carabao Cup, but this will give him regular time.

 

The Irish Premier Division isn’t a high level, but for an 18-year-old, it should give him the experience he needs to learn to handle the responsibilities of first-team minutes. We will learn a lot more about Anderson this year as he very much wants to push to make the U.S. U-20 World Cup team.

 

Alan Sonora

From: Huracan

To: Cerro Porteno

While Huracan finished second in Argentina last year, Sonora saw his minutes decline. Now he will head to play for one of Paraguay’s biggest clubs. The connection is that the move reunites him with his first Hurcan coach, Diego Martinez, who rated him.

It was surprising to see Sonora not try an MLS team, but the demand might not have been there.

 

Players to watch

 

The transfer window for most of Europe has another few days left. After that, there are a few more leagues with windows still open (such as MLS and Scandinavian leagues). There are a few players to keep a close eye on.

Taylor Booth is the most likely pick to move as he is not playing at FC Utrecht anymore and it hasn’t been a good season for him (injuries have played a part in that as well). He has done enough to perhaps draw interest from a good level and there are likely some MLS teams monitoring his situation. But he needs to find a team where he is wanted. At this late juncture, he also needs to be careful making a rash decision and going to a place where he is a supplemental depth player.

Gaga Slonina needs to move too. His loan from Chelsea to Barnsley was terminated early and now he is training at the London club and likely looking to move out again. Going out on loan could be difficult as teams might see Slonina now as a project. Chelsea might cut its losses and that would allow Slonina to move to a club where he can develop – possibly as a backup to start. He might need to take a step back to take a step forward.

Rokas Pukstas, 20, looked set to move last August but Hajduk Split did not get offers that were high enough. The problem is that Pukstas hasn’t been playing as well as he was last season. There are still clubs likely interested, but will Hajduk accept reduced offers?

Damion Downs, 20, has had a breakout season in the 2.Bundesliga with Cologne and the German club likely won’t want to sell him in a promotional race. But with him already at 7 goals, Cologne might get offers they cannot refuse. A move this summer is more likely if Cologne doesn’t earn promotion. But a big push for him in the coming days wouldn’t be shocking either.

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