Wednesday night was the last chance to make any last-minute moves to help improve your roster. San Diego FC was busy this window with some departures and arrivals. SDFC is currently in 8th place and, with 12 matches left, the team is pushing for a playoff spot. They were aggressive with some veteran and young arrivals, but there were also some high-profile departures that left a mark on the team—and one fans will never forget.
Luca Bombino Appreciation Post
Last week, Tom Bogert reported that Luca Bombino was going to be transferred to Stoke City for $5 million. Bombino was not available against the LA Galaxy as he was most likely already at Stoke City taking his physical for his new team. The move became official on Tuesday, with San Diego FC announcing the transfer, and the team will retain a future sell-on percentage. It’s important to note that when LAFC officially transferred Bombino during the off-season in November, Los Angeles had a future sell-on percentage in their deal with San Diego if Bombino ever got transferred. So, whether that’s straight up a percentage from the $5 million or a profit percentage, LAFC is getting their money out of the deal.
Getting back to the SDFC side of things, Bombino was initially acquired by SDFC on a loan through LAFC for an international roster slot. Initially, it looked like taking a flyer on an 18-year-old player who had never had real minutes with the big-league club at LAFC and played most of his minutes with LAFC 2. Bombino also earned appearances with the U.S. Youth National Team. Bombino first appeared in a match away against Real Salt Lake and then started his first match against the Columbus Crew the very next week. Clearly, Bombino was a player on the rise at SDFC in training, and head coach Mikey Varas wanted to give him every opportunity to succeed. Bombino’s first goal came in a 3–4 loss to the Houston Dynamo, and in the very next match, Bombino recorded his very first assist against the Chicago Fire. Across all competitions last season, including the playoffs, Bombino had 2 goals and three assists. In league play, Bombino started 29 of 31 matches, playing over 2,500 minutes as he took over at left back and outright won the position battle to become the starter.
Now, what made his stock rise so quickly starting in 2025? Well, Bombino’s ability to move the ball forward for San Diego—a team that likes to have possession and be on the front foot—was achievable with Bombino on the pitch. Among fullbacks in 2025, Bombino was fifth in completed passes with over 1,500 completed. Bombino also ranked 15th in progressive passes with 161 and 17th in progressive carries with 86. Bombino’s Net G+ rating was at 1.9 last season, which puts him around Ryan Hollingshead of LAFC or Alex Roldan of the Seattle Sounders. Bombino was showing great offensive attributes at such a young age.
However, Bombino is such a well-rounded player that his stronger abilities might actually be what he does on defense. He was in the 90th percentile for fullbacks in defensive contributions with over 198, had a high number of tackles and interceptions (over 100+ combined, ranking above the 93rd percentile in those categories), and recorded a high number of clearances that also ranked highly among other fullbacks. Bombino played for an attack-minded team, and his ability to track back when San Diego FC got into trouble was astonishing. Just like earlier this season when playing against LAFC, Heung-min Son had an absolute clear shot at goal and Bombino was able to slide in and take that shot away from Son. Also last season against Sporting KC, Bombino was able to find his man deep inside the penalty area and tackle Stephen Afrifa to prevent any damage, securing the clean sheet in that match.
Just talking about Luca Bombino the person, he seems like such a wonderful person to get to know. His passion for soccer exudes on the pitch. It’s clear that he plays for the love of the sport and carries that same love for the badge. Bombino has opened my eyes to how I look at the left-back position because he has now set a standard. The Luca Bombino standard will leave some tough shoes to fill. Any person filling a fullback position has to play it exactly as I mentioned: being a threat on the ball in attack while being able to track back and defend very well. It’s a demanding position, and one that Bombino was able to fill so well in his short time here in San Diego. All of San Diego will be rooting for Bombino over at Stoke City, and it was such an honor to watch him play for San Diego.
The Other Departures
One move I did not talk about was Anisse Saidi being loaned out to Portuguese club Benfica with an option to purchase. Saidi was loaned to Monterey Bay over the summer, where he scored a goal, but it’s pretty clear that Benfica is a better opportunity for the striker. With that purchase option available to Benfica, that might bring an end to Saidi’s tenure at San Diego FC. Saidi is very young at 18 years old and clearly has upside if a European club has been looking at him and wants to develop him. Unfortunately, those opportunities were not coming at San Diego FC, but it’s great to see a solution that could greatly benefit the player.
The other departure that happened just recently was the trade of Lewis Morgan to Toronto FC. Now, this one came as a shock, but it made sense at the end of the window. Morgan did look like he was starting to come around, playing one of his better matches against the Portland Timbers and providing an assist to Gabriel Pirani—Morgan’s third assist of the season. However, he was brought in to be another striker at San Diego FC, and Morgan did not score any goals during his time with SDFC. That’s a problem: a striker who doesn’t score goals. Morgan was traded to Toronto FC for an international slot that was needed for an incoming arrival.
The Arrivals
News kicked off with Sam Vines being acquired on loan through the 2026 season with a club option through December 2027 from the Houston Dynamo. The cost was only a natural third-round pick in the 2028 MLS SuperDraft. Vines came up in the Colorado Rapids system, playing on the senior club for three seasons from 2018 to 2021. Then, Vines went to the Belgian league at Antwerp and played over 3,000 minutes with two goals and one assist across three seasons. Vines came back to the Rapids in 2024 and started 24 out of 27 matches in that first season back, recording a goal and an assist.
In 2025, Vines started fewer league matches, starting 13 out of 22 matches played with two assists. This made him expendable, especially with a new head coach coming in for the Rapids, and Vines’ club option was not picked up at the end of last season. The Houston Dynamo picked him up for more fullback depth. Houston currently has Lawrence Ennali playing wingback on the left side for the Dynamo, and the guy right behind him on the depth chart is former San Diego FC player Franco Negri.
Sam Vines has played in three matches this season for the Dynamo and has started one of those matches. Comparing Bombino’s 2025 stats to Vines’ 2024 season (since they both played over 2,500 minutes), both players completed over 80% of their passes. Their average passing distance was close to Bombino’s 17.8 yards. It seems like Vines is a better long-ball passer with a completion rate of 51%. But whether it’s Vines or Sargeant competing for the left-back position, neither has Bombino’s defensive skills. You hope that one of those players can step up and become the full-time starter late in this season. Tyler Heaps has found value in picking up players who were not playing at their previous clubs, like Ian Murphy and Gabriel Pirani, and turning them into starters at San Diego FC. We’ll see if Vines experiences the same fate as those two players moving forward.
The next pickup was David Mimbang on loan from FC Nordsjælland through the end of the 2027 spring season. Mimbang is an 18-year-old central midfielder from Cameroon. Very similar to Bryan Zamble, Mimbang will try to find his first senior minutes at any club with San Diego FC. He has played internationally for the Cameroon U-17 team. Mimbang required an international slot, which is why the Morgan trade worked for both sides; in return, San Diego FC received the international slot they needed to put Mimbang on their roster. We’ll see just how much playing time San Diego FC will have for Mimbang, as they are in a tight race for a playoff spot and have to play their best eleven from here on out.
Their final move was announced just yesterday. With Morgan out and needing a striker to replace him, San Diego FC went out and signed Cédric Bakambu, who was a free agent. Bakambu is signed through this season with options for the 2027 sprint season and the 2027–2028 season. Cédric Bakambu is a world-class player. He started out playing for Sochaux for four seasons starting when he was 19 years old, where he scored 17 goals and had 3 assists. He played a season at Bursaspor in the Turkish Süper Lig, where he scored 13 goals and had 5 assists. The next seven seasons were spent with Villarreal in La Liga and Beijing Guoan in the Chinese Super League, where he combined for over 94 goals and 17 assists.
After his time in the Chinese Super League, Bakambu returned to French Ligue 1 side Marseille, where he saw limited playing time before eventually moving on to Olympiacos. There, he returned to form by scoring 18 goals and recording 2 assists during his loan season in Greece. In 2023, he signed with Galatasaray, where he scored two goals in a half-season. He then moved to Real Betis, where he spent the last couple of seasons scoring a total of 15 goals along with 7 assists. Across all competitions, Bakambu has registered 162 goals and 36 assists in his club career. Representing the DR Congo internationally, Bakambu has 20 goals and 6 assists, and he started all three matches for Congo recently in the World Cup.
Bakambu should serve as an excellent addition to San Diego FC. He can come in late when a goal is needed or perhaps help tack on to a lead. He’s a great finisher and seems to have all the qualities of a number 9 who can back up Marcus Ingvartsen. Bakambu can start training and playing with the team pending the receipt of his P-1 visa. As we saw with Achouri, that process can take weeks to complete. Hopefully, this process moves a lot faster for Bakambu.
Overall
San Diego FC brought in some veterans this window to be competitive right away. This was very different from last summer’s window, where we saw young players like Pedro Soma, David Vazquez, and Leo Duru arrive. They brought in Corey Baird and Amahl Pellegrino late in that window last year, both of whom saw playing time late in the season.
In terms of money spent, it’s hard to say what Achouri’s and Bakambu’s salaries actually are, but those figures will come out later this fall. A better breakdown will be possible when those numbers are released. As a rough estimate, San Diego FC spent roughly $8–9 million in real dollars and around $3 million in GAM. That does not include Bombino’s $5 million transfer fee coming into the club. LAFC will get their cut of that Bombino deal, so on net, you could look at it as San Diego FC spending around $4 million on players this off-season.
Will we see some of that Bombino money converted into GAM for next season? Most likely, because while GAM may be overthought as “funny money” that truly doesn’t exist, it’s a tool and resource that helps expand your roster cap space. People often ask why Inter Miami can bring in so many high-profile players. It’s because they collect GAM like they’re playing Monopoly. If you want to keep good players on your roster without cutting anyone due to a lack of cap space (like the LA Galaxy have had to do the last couple of seasons), you need to have a high amount of GAM available. We will see what San Diego ultimately does with that Bombino transfer money.
Matchday Preview: Orlando City SC
In their last 12 matches, San Diego FC will have to play four Eastern Conference opponents. One will be at home against the Philadelphia Union. The other three will be on the East Coast against Orlando City, Inter Miami, and the New York Red Bulls.
The first East Coast road trip is to Orlando. Orlando is currently 9th in their conference with a 7-4-11 record and 25 points. Their record at home this season is 5-2-4 with a +2 goal differential and 17 points earned at home. This is a team that has scored 37 goals with an xG of 33.48. Orlando takes a high number of quality shots, accumulating 107 shots on target and ranking 7th in conversion rate at 13.96%. San Diego is slightly higher at 14.81%.
Orlando wants to play direct and target central areas with their attack. They have 43 total direct attacks—ranking 5th in the league with three goals—and 38 through balls, which ranks 4th in the league.
Defensively, this team is tied for the most goals allowed this season with 54 and leads the league with the highest xG allowed at 46.62. They are vulnerable to high-quality shots, leading the league in most shots on target faced with 147. Their goalkeeper, Maxime Crépeau, has a save percentage of 64.4%, which trends on the lower side in the league. Orlando has given up seven goals from headers, tied for third-most in the league.
Additionally, Orlando is susceptible to counters and fast breaks against them. They face the most fast-break attacks in the league and have allowed seven goals on fast breaks, tied for 5th most. San Diego should try to go vertical with Achouri and Dreyer up front and catch them on the break.
Antoine Griezmann
Since returning from the World Cup break, Orlando holds a 3-2-2 record. A big factor in that solid run has been Antoine Griezmann, who is the marquee summer transfer not just for Orlando City, but for all of MLS. Griezmann has started all seven matches and already recorded seven goal contributions.
The 35-year-old arrived from Atlético Madrid, where he spent 10 seasons across two different spells. Between those stints at Atlético, Griezmann spent three seasons at Barcelona, scoring 35 goals and providing 16 assists. Earlier in his career, he spent five seasons at Real Sociedad, tallying 46 goals and 16 assists. However, Atlético Madrid is where Griezmann became a household name, becoming the club’s all-time top scorer with 212 goals. Griezmann also ranks 4th all-time in goals scored for the French National Team.
Griezmann features a dynamic left foot, excels at dribbling, and creates chances at will; he is truly a player who wants the ball and knows exactly what to do once it is at his feet. Beyond his finishing ability, he can pass, track back when needed, and contribute defensively, making him a phenomenal all-around player. His seven goal contributions to start his MLS campaign show he hasn’t lost a step and could dominate this league. It will be a tough task, but if San Diego can stop Griezmann, they will have a great shot at taking three points in Orlando
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