When FC Tulsa hosted last season’s USL Championship title game, their lineup featured five midseason acquisitions. The New Mexico United team they beat in the Western Conference Final got there because of summer signings like Valentin Noel and Kipp Keller. In consecutive seasons, Rhode Island FC has reached the Eastern Conference Final by adding defenders (i.e., Morris Duggan and Hamady Diop) late in the campaign. Clubs across the league hope to enter each year as fully-formed as possible, but doing good business during the season is of the utmost importance.
As we barrel toward the halfway point of the 2026 season, all 25 clubs in the Championship have some area where they can improve. What should be topping each team’s shopping list? Let’s dig in.
Birmingham Legion
Need: Ball-playing center back
The Legion have tried to shift toward a more possessive system this season, and Ramiz Hamouda made it happen as their left-sided center back. Prior to his move to Werder Bremen, Hamouda ranked in the 89th percentile among USL defenders with 11.4 final-third entries per 90. With Hamouda gone, 30-year-old AJ Paterson just getting fit, and the specter of a recall hanging over loanee Keegan Hughes, Birmingham would do well to add a pass-first defender.
