You have a hole in your roster, huh? Lucky for you, this is the time of year to plug it.
With the summer window well and truly underway and deals happening across MLS at a breakneck pace, I couldn’t resist the chance to identify a handful of underrated targets who should be drawing interest from other teams within the league. Whether due to a superstar joining from abroad and suddenly rendering their services less important to their current team or due to untapped talent needing a change of scenery, I’m playing matchmaker.
If I was a chief soccer officer of an MLS team, I’d put in a few calls about these players.
Yannick Bright, DM, Inter Miami
When Casemiro came to town, Bright, one of the best ball-winners in MLS, became a bench player in Inter Miami’s best lineup. If that doesn’t prompt you to pick up the phone and see what the price tag is on the 24-year-old Italian, I don’t know what will.
Sure, Bright is a bit of a specialist. He’s an elite defensive presence in midfield but his on-ball play is sloppy on occasion. But he’s really good at his one thing. Among the 200 central or defensive midfielders to play over 1,000 minutes in 2024 and/or 2025, Bright’s 2024 and 2025 campaigns both ranked in the top 11 for defensive goals added, as per American Soccer Analysis. A ball-winner like that fixes a lot of problems.
