After a long, cold, two-and-a-half months of waiting, Major League Soccer is set to emerge from hibernation and start again in 2025.
It’s a pivotal year for the league. With more hype surrounding MLS than ever before and with the 2026 World Cup on home soil fast approaching, the league is primed for its best act yet in its 30th rendition.
With that in mind, here are the top five storylines league-wide to get you ready for the always-entertaining world of Major League Soccer.
1) MLS Cup or Bust in Messi’s Last Year?
Where else to start in MLS than with Inter Miami and their elephant in the room: Lionel Messi’s contract runs down after the 2025 season, and they’re still seeking an MLS Cup.
Co-owner Jorge Mas is confident they can negotiate a deal to keep the game’s greatest-ever player in South Beach for another year, but little has been reported about Messi’s intentions as his current deal expires.
As of now, this is the Heron’s last shot at glory in the Messi era, which puts further pressure on a star-studded cast that has proven formidable, but not yet triumphant.
Miami took home a League’s Cup in Messi’s 2023 debut season and waltzed to a record-setting Supporter’s Shield in 2024, where their 74 points were the most in league history.
But, after missing the playoffs entirely in 2023, and crashing out early to Atlanta United in 2024, they haven’t yet sniffed an MLS Cup.
For the amount they’ve invested in this project, that’s simply not going to cut it.
While Miami’s roster will look mostly familiar in 2025, its management will be fresh.
Former head coach Tata Martino stepped down after last season’s shock playoff exit, and to replace him, Miami have leaned further into their FC Barcelona roots by appointing Javier Mascherano.
His impressive playing career speaks for itself, but at the managerial level, he’s only coached at Argentina’s youth ranks.
This will be his first assignment at both the senior level and club level. But, with the pressure on his Miami side, he’ll be expected to win right away regardless.
There was also a shakeup amongst the backroom staff, which saw Messi’s “footballing godfather” Guillermo Hoyos promoted to the role of Sporting Director.
This sudden move pushed previous Sporting Director Raul Sanllehi out after just a matter of months, and into a new role that handles “Institutional relations” … whatever that means.
Between these two managerial moves, it’s feeling like “Messi’s Miami” now more than ever.
But is that really a bad thing? Even at 37 years old, he’s coming off a year in which he hoisted Copa America with Argentina, and lifted the MLS MVP for his play in pink.
He put up a whopping 35 G/A in just 25 MLS appearances last year, and you’d be a brave soul to bet against similar numbers from the Argentine in ‘25.
Combine his crazy output with the returning cast of Luis Suárez, Jordi Alba, and Sergio Busquets, and it’s no surprise that MLS experts and bookies alike have Miami finishing right back atop the Eastern Conference, despite the chaotic offseason behind the scenes.
2) A Wild Winter Transfer Window
It was a truly wild offseason across Major League Soccer.
While “silly season” usually brings just enough headlines to hold fans over until the matches resume, this winter window was a spectacle on its own.
For starters, the money getting thrown around ahead of 2025 reached a new level, as MLS engaged in the global transfer market in ways we haven’t yet seen in the league’s young history.
There were big-money sales league-wide, including the Cucho Hernández sale to Real Betis for $16m, Santiago Rodríguez’s sale to Botafogo for a reported $17M, and Diego Gómez’s move to Brighton and Hove Albion for reported $15M.
The incoming transfers, however, may be even more impressive, with owners across the league’s 30 clubs showing more ambition than ever when it comes to spending big on talent.
In fact, the league’s inbound transfer record was set twice in this same window: first by Kévin Denkey’s $16.2M arrival to FC Cincinnati from Cercle Brugge, and again by Atlanta United’s acquisition of Emmanuel Latte Lath from Middlesbrough for a whopping $22M.
Some other fun arrivals include Hirving Lozano and Luca De La Torre moving to San Diego FC, Wilfried Zaha arriving at Charlotte FC on loan, Jonathan Bamba signing for Chicago Fire, and Miguel Almirón’s romantic return to Atlanta United.
There was also a smattering of fun deals within MLS, with the new “cash trades” rule allowing clubs to transfer players within the league more easily than ever.
This spawned blockbuster deals like Lucho Acosta’s big move from FC Cincinnati to FC Dallas, with Cincy backfilling their departed star with the highly talented Evander from Portland Timbers.
Traditional MLS trades involving general allocation money haven’t gone by the wayside.
However, with the league’s in-game currency being used for other notable transfers like Jesús Ferreira’s big move from FC Dallas to Seattle Sounders, Leo Campana’s journey up north from Inter Miami to New England Revolution, and Chicho Arango’s arrival to San Jose Earthquakes from Real Salt Lake.
With a combined $200m+ spent on transfer fees in this window alone, MLS should feature more talent in 2025 than ever before.
3) San Diego FC Joins MLS
San Diego FC will enter Major League Soccer as the league’s 30th franchise in 2025.
With that comes the novel experience of watching a soccer club play its first-ever matches at a first-division level – something you can only see in MLS.
Their squad is headlined by Mexican international, Hirving “Chucky” Lozano. He’s a perennial winner, having lifted league titles for each of the three clubs he’s represented: Pachuca, PSV Eindhoven, and Napoli.
At just 29 years old, and with 70 caps for El Tri already, the winger feels like a perfect fit for the San Diego project.
While the new side may not yet have the deepest roster in the league, the top-end talent is certainly there.
Lozano will be joined by a silky USMNT midfielder in Luca De La Torre, a dangerous Danish winger in Anders Dreyer, and a Championship-hardened center-half in Paddy McNair.
But, while everyone’s excited to see the league’s newest toy, it’s no secret that this new franchise arrives carrying a bit of baggage.
They may be San Diego’s first team to play in MLS but they’re by no means the city’s first soccer club.
San Diego Loyal, the now-defunct USL Championship side, had been quickly winning over the hearts of local fans in America’s Finest City for the past three seasons.
Under the ownership of MLS legend and Southern California native Landon Donovan, the hope among fans was that the Loyal would receive the MLS expansion bid, sending them to first-division glory.
Instead, Egyptian-born British billionaire Mohamed Mansour coughed up a whopping $500M expansion fee to join MLS with San Diego FC, effectively killing off Donovan’s Loyal and spawning its replacement in one fell swoop.
This footballing power grab combined with the uninspiring rollout of the new club’s branding left many MLS fans lamenting the San Diego shakeup, which hardly helped the league’s reputation of chasing cash over culture.
But, it’s not a complete loss in the court of public opinion for SDFC, as they’ll be rolling out an exciting partnership with Right To Dream.
The world-renowned academy holds roots in Ghana, where they’ve been combining strong education and character development with footballing excellence for the past 25 years.
The organization’s new campus in San Diego will serve as the expansion club’s youth academy, providing free education and soccer development to the region’s youth, while potentially sculpting an incredible crop of future talent for the newly-founded club.
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4) Is it Cavan Sullivan’s Time To Shine?
Everyone in the MLS space who’s met, coached, played with, or interviewed Cavan Sullivan seems to express the same sentiment: no one can believe this kid is just 15 years old.
The Philadelphia Union academy product is already entering his second season as a professional after signing the largest homegrown deal in MLS history at just 14 years of age.
The deal will keep him stateside until 2027 when he’ll join Premier League giants Manchester City upon his 18th birthday.
While Cavan is certainly one for the future, he’s also primed to make an impact for the Union in the here and now.
Having already made three appearances in 2024, the young attacking midfielder will be looking to build on those minutes in 2025 for a side that lost a lot of talent in the offseason.
Sullivan got most of his professional minutes with Philadelphia Union II last season playing in MLS Next Pro. He showed well, despite being the youngest player out there, providing 5 goals and 4 assists in 22 matches played.
2025 could prove to be a different story for Cavan, however, as he’ll be looking to play a greater role with each passing season while he’s still in Philly.
“I think this year is probably the biggest of my life so far”, Cavan said in an interview with USA Today, “and 2024 was pretty big. This is the next step.”
That next step is far from a guarantee, however, as Sullivan will have work to do to impress new head coach, Bradley Carnell.
The Union will be under serious pressure to qualify for the playoffs this season after missing out last year for the first time since 2017.
But, with a talent like Cavan, and with a midfield that just lost Jack McGlynn, more minutes for the American talent are a real possibility.
If you’re a fan of MLS, Cavan Sullivan is a must-watch while he’s still around.
5) Club World Cup Drama
This summer, FIFA will be rolling out the re-vamped Club World Cup. It’s set to run from June to July and will be hosted in the United States, with 63 matches to be played across 12 host cities in just 29 days.
It marks a complete overhaul of the competition, which is expanding its field from seven teams to 32 this time around.
Its format will mirror the traditional World Cup, with eight groups of four teams competing in pool play, with the top two sides from each group advancing to a knockout round.
Of those 32 teams, two will hail from MLS, with Inter Miami and Seattle Sounders representing the American League on home soil.
Seattle have drawn the short straw, facing a ‘group of death’ with PSG, Atlético Madrid, and Botafogo.
Inter Miami, however, have drawn slightly more favorable opponents, as they’re set to face Palmeiras, Porto, and Al Ahly.
Expectations aren’t particularly high for either side in this new frontier.
Rather, both sides likely fall somewhere closer to the “happy to be here” category of the expanded field, with more excitement reserved for the competition’s paycheck rather than its potential hardware.
While MLS fans are understandably excited to see how their beloved franchises will stack up against the global elite, this souped-up version of the competition has come with significant backlash.
From an MLS perspective, serious questions remain regarding the validity of Inter Miami’s qualification for the tournament.
Especially after FIFA president Gianni Infantino awarded Miami the final slot in the tournament himself while citing their incredible Supporter’s Shield run, but not announcing that as criterion for qualification until after the fact.
Further criticism comes from the standpoint of fixture congestion, as the competition could add as many as seven additional matches to the calendar for teams that progress to the final.
With these matches taking place immediately following the conclusion of the traditional European season, the already short offseason for these players shrinks by nearly a month, giving less time to rest and recover before the start of the 2025/26 season.
But, while this tournament remains a blatant money grab from FIFA that shows little regard for player safety, it’s undeniably a huge opportunity for Major League Soccer.
Having the ability to showcase its talent against some of the biggest sides in the world provides the league with a measuring stick it’s never had before.
Perhaps once and for all, fans can better understand where MLS’s level stands in the global pecking order.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / NurPhoto
Recording Date: 22.02.2025