SigningLab · Annual Report

Signing Accuracy — Major League Soccer 2024

Published on January 13, 2025

Executive Summary

253
Real signings
232
Evaluated
32%
Clubs' average hit rate
44
Successful
128
Unsuccessful

In total we identified 253 real signings by the clubs of Major League Soccer in the 2024 season — academy promotions, loan returns, internal moves and transfers that never went through are excluded. Of these, 232 are included in the hit-rate calculation; 21 are youth investments (under-23 with no game time), classified separately. Signings without relevant minutes in the season count as unsuccessful.

Club Ranking

ClubLeague positionSigningsEvaluatedSuccessfulFairUnsuccessfulHit rate %SigningLab*
1Inter Miami98431
69%
100%
2Atlanta United FC17º88341
62%
62%
3New York Red Bulls44211
62%
75%
4Los Angeles Galaxy1211515
50%
82%
5Orlando City SC65212
50%
100%
6FC Cincinnati1312435
46%
83%
7Columbus Crew88233
44%
75%
8FC Dallas20º86213
42%
83%
9Portland Timbers16º66213
42%
83%
10Los Angeles FC1311335
41%
82%
11St. Louis City23º1110325
40%
80%
12Charlotte14º1010235
35%
80%
13Vancouver Whitecaps13º118134
31%
100%
14DC United21º1010226
30%
90%
15Colorado Rapids15º77205
29%
86%
16New England Revolution27º1010055
25%
70%
17San Jose Earthquakes29º98125
25%
75%
18Toronto FC24º66033
25%
100%
19Austin19º99045
22%
78%
20Chicago Fire28º109126
22%
100%
21Real Salt Lake99126
22%
67%
22Houston Dynamo10º87034
21%
100%
23Minnesota United FC11º15141310
18%
100%
24Philadelphia Union22º53012
17%
67%
25CF Montreal18º1010118
15%
80%
26Seattle Sounders54013
12%
100%
27Sporting Kansas City26º44013
12%
100%
28New York City FC12º66015
8%
100%
29Nashville SC25º119009
0%
89%

* SigningLab: hit rate of SigningLab’s verdicts (recommend or not recommend) on each club’s evaluated signings, projected at the time of signing.

The difference between Signings and Evaluated are youth investments (under-23 with no game time in the season), classified separately. Signings without relevant minutes are unsuccessful (Did not deliver).

Season Highlights

The ten signings with the greatest technical impact of the season, according to the Player Impact Score (PIS).

PlayerClubPosMinG+AAvg ratingRatingSigningLab
Gabriel PecLos Angeles GalaxyM321619+157.74Excellent
Luis SuárezInter MiamiF221321+97.23Excellent
Djordje MihailovićColorado RapidsM257711+107.32Excellent
Miki YamaneLos Angeles GalaxyD34090+57.00Excellent
Julian GresselInter MiamiM23821+96.25Excellent
Marco ReusLos Angeles GalaxyM5461+36.95Excellent
Nicolás LodeiroOrlando City SCM17811+77.04Excellent
Pedro AmadorAtlanta United FCD11760+76.72Excellent
Marcel HartelSt. Louis CityF8273+57.52Excellent
Dylan ChambostColumbus CrewM5870+45.99Excellent

Methodology

Club assessment — the universe of signings

The report considers exclusively genuine signings for the first-team squad, identified by the player's effective incorporation into the group between seasons. Excluded from the universe are: academy promotions, loan returns, internal administrative moves and transfers recorded but never completed. The aim is to measure the quality of market decisions — and those alone.

Player Impact Score (PIS)

Each evaluated signing receives a score from 0 to 100 that combines four observable technical dimensions: individual performance (average match ratings over the season), output (goals, assists and decisive actions adjusted for game time), collective performance (starting status and correlation with the club's results) and availability (volume of matches, adjusted for interruptions). High-impact players with reduced game time are promoted through an alternative efficiency criterion.

Outcome classification

The rating tiers are: Excellent and Good (successful signings — a full point in the index), Fair (intermediate performance — half a point) and Below expectations / Did not deliver (unsuccessful signings). Two categories sit outside the calculation, for distinct reasons: Injury (a serious injury prevented a fair assessment) and Investment (an under-23 player with low game time — the return depends on development and cannot be counted for or against the club in this cycle). Signings that did not reach relevant game time in the season are classified as unsuccessful, reflecting the sporting cost of the decision.

A note on scope

This is SigningLab's public, simplified model, developed for transparent retrospective market assessment. SigningLab's commercial solutions for partner clubs use a substantially larger set of variables and dedicated predictive mechanisms, and are not fully reflected in this document.

Appendix — Signings by club

* Youth investment (under-23, no game time in the season) — outside the hit-rate calculation.

Atlanta United FC (8 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Bartosz Slisz32279220Good
Derrick Williams31263910Fair
Stian Gregersen28193220Good
Daniel Rios33143573Fair
Dax McCarty38122400Fair
Pedro Amador14117607Excellent
Aleksey Miranchuk13106833Fair
Josh Cohen3721600Did not deliver

Austin (9 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Guilherme Biro30230730Fair
Brendan Hines-Ike31227221Fair
Jader Obrian33222472Below expectations
Diego Rubio32184641Fair
Osman Bukari962012Fair
Mikkel Desler749200Below expectations
Oleksandr Svatok942400Below expectations
Stefan Cleveland33000Did not deliver
Matt Bersano6000Did not deliver

CF Montreal (10 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Ruan25203023Below expectations
Raheem Edwards27159105Below expectations
Josef Martínez241415113Good
Joaquín Sosa26127400Did not deliver
Matías Cóccaro2293541Below expectations
Dominik Yankov2573221Did not deliver
Caden Clark968342Fair
Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty966400Did not deliver
Tom Pearce925911Below expectations
Logan Ketterer2000Did not deliver

Charlotte (10 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Djibril Diani32183311Fair
Liel Abada25172971Good
Júnior Urso26113510Below expectations
Tim Ream1089010Fair
Pep Biel1071423Good
Nikola Petković2651510Did not deliver
João Pedro2246500Fair
Tyger Smalls1628100Did not deliver
Jamie Paterson66300Did not deliver
David Bingham33000Did not deliver

Chicago Fire (10 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Hugo Cuypers312643102Good
Kellyn Acosta34234232Fair
Allan Arigoni32212410Did not deliver
Tobias Salquist2092601Did not deliver
Tom Barlow3478220Did not deliver
Andrew Gutman1274210Fair
Ariel Lassiter744501Did not deliver
Chase Gasper524100Did not deliver
Jeffrey Gal2000Did not deliver
David Poreba *3000Investment

Colorado Rapids (7 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Zack Steffen35317800Good
Djordje Mihailović3025771110Excellent
Omir Fernandez35185323Below expectations
Reggie Cannon851410Below expectations
Jasper Loffelsend3038600Did not deliver
Lamine Diack113800Did not deliver
Rick12700Did not deliver

Columbus Crew (8 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Dylan Chambost1258704Excellent
Derrick Jones3451901Below expectations
Marcelo Herrera1151310Below expectations
DeJuan Jones1246520Fair
Aziel Jackson1340722Fair
Marino Hinestroza2138320Good
Nicholas Hagen2632500Fair
Abraham Romero413700Did not deliver

DC United (10 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Lucas Bartlett32280723Good
Aaron Herrera31268014Excellent
Jared Stroud34255637Fair
Matti Peltola31229300Below expectations
Christopher McVey27220510Fair
Conner Antley944201Below expectations
Boris Enow731100Did not deliver
Dominique Badji930010Below expectations
David Schnegg312610Did not deliver
Ethan Dobbelaere0000Did not deliver

FC Cincinnati (13 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Pavel Bucha35315142Good
Luca Orellano352851115Good
Miles Robinson28245410Good
DeAndre Yedlin30235203Below expectations
Kevin Kelsy26127460Fair
Yamil Asad26100745Fair
Corey Baird2798132Below expectations
Kipp Keller3186900Did not deliver
Chidozie Awaziem975902Good
Nicholas Selson Gioacchini1045200Did not deliver
Teenage Hadebe939201Fair
Evan Louro239000Did not deliver
Nico Benalcazar *1000Investment

FC Dallas (8 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Petar Musa312312163Good
Patrickson Delgado27118841Good
Omar Gonzalez3487800Did not deliver
Show750800Did not deliver
Ruan643401Fair
Carl Fred Sainté *2015400Investment
Tomas Pondeca *511600Investment
Rick13600Did not deliver

Houston Dynamo (8 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Latif Blessing31102351Fair
Ezequiel Ponce1074550Below expectations
Ján Greguš2638500Fair
Gabriel Segal2124720Fair
Orrin McKinze Gaines II.1617900Did not deliver
Lawrence Ennali *24810Investment
Júnior Moreno32600Did not deliver
Jefferson Valverde31200Did not deliver

Inter Miami (9 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Julian Gressel36238219Excellent
Marcelo Weigandt27227403Fair
Luis Suárez312213219Excellent
Federico Redondo19139023Fair
Matías Rojas1791052Good
Nicolas Freire1275100Fair
David Martínez755211Excellent
Óscar Ustari69000Did not deliver
Ryan Carmichael *2000Investment

Los Angeles FC (13 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Hugo Lloris36326100Good
Omar Campos34163102Fair
Maxime Chanot27159502Excellent
Lewis O'Brien12106901Fair
Kei Kamara30105335Fair
Olivier Giroud1378901Below expectations
David Martinez2449142Good
Marlon818510Did not deliver
Thomas Hasal139700Did not deliver
Tomás Ángel *217210Investment
Abraham Romero24000Did not deliver
David Ochoa *1000Investment
Rick1000Did not deliver

Los Angeles Galaxy (12 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Miki Yamane38340905Excellent
John McCarthy39336800Good
Gabriel Pec3832161915Excellent
Joseph Paintsil342758148Excellent
John Nelson39163611Below expectations
Miguel Berry3986913Below expectations
Carlos Garcés2486601Fair
Marco Reus1154613Excellent
Isaiah Parente145300Did not deliver
Tucker Lepley *134700Investment
Brady Scott1000Did not deliver
Rick1000Did not deliver

Minnesota United FC (15 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Carlos Harvey21114901Fair
Caden Clark24105800Did not deliver
Jefferson Díaz1089001Fair
Kelvin Yeboah1079891Good
Joaquín Pereyra845701Fair
Alejandro Bran1943710Below expectations
Alec Smir2227000Did not deliver
Victor Eriksson1518200Did not deliver
Moses Nyeman *1314600Investment
Anthony Markanich87000Did not deliver
Morris Duggan96000Did not deliver
Samuel Shashoua93200Did not deliver
Rick2100Did not deliver
Derek Dodson1000Did not deliver
Matúš Kmeť1000Did not deliver

Nashville SC (11 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Dru Yearwood27155110Below expectations
Tyler Boyd21116122Below expectations
Brent Kallman3057000Did not deliver
Forster Ajago1641400Did not deliver
Patrick Yazbek737600Below expectations
Amar Sejdic2835600Did not deliver
Jonathan Perez824900Did not deliver
Julian Gaines823700Did not deliver
Orrin McKinze Gaines II.712701Did not deliver
Bryan Dowd *2000Investment
Woobens Pacius *0000Investment

New England Revolution (10 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Aljaž Ivačič25228300Fair
Xavier Arreaga23195200Fair
Nick Lima28183510Below expectations
Henrich Ravas1572900Did not deliver
Luca Langoni1171332Fair
Alhassan Yusuf744601Below expectations
William Sands544402Fair
Tim Parker1141100Below expectations
Jonathan Mensah2329500Fair
JD Gunn1000Did not deliver

New York City FC (6 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Hannes Wolf37282456Fair
Strahinja Tanasijević32101500Did not deliver
Agustin Ojeda3694430Below expectations
Jovan Mijatović3228600Did not deliver
Rio Hope-Gund6000Did not deliver
Tomás Romero0000Did not deliver

New York Red Bulls (4 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Noah Eile33259201Good
Emil Forsberg23173493Excellent
Dennis Gjengaar3695220Did not deliver
Felipe Carballo1061420Fair

Orlando City SC (6 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Nicolás Lodeiro37178117Excellent
Luis Muriel36169955Excellent
David Brekalo25118310Fair
Rick1000Did not deliver
Yeiler Valencia *0000Investment
Carlos Mercado0000Did not deliver

Philadelphia Union (5 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Oliver Semmle27142100Fair
Danley Jean Jacques846100Below expectations
Samuel Adeniran1014600Did not deliver
Isaiah LeFlore *0000Investment
Jose Jamir Berdecio Mendoza *0000Investment

Portland Timbers (6 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Jonathan Rodríguez302548165Excellent
Kamal Miller25203300Below expectations
Maxime Crépeau24179300Fair
James Pantemis35139500Good
Mason Toye717200Did not deliver
Trey Muse11000Did not deliver

Real Salt Lake (9 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Alexandros Katranis30201933Good
Matt Crooks30191633Below expectations
Philip Quinton26124310Fair
Fidel Barajas1957202Did not deliver
Diogo Gonçalves956120Fair
Javain Brown934300Below expectations
Lachlan Brook924800Did not deliver
Noel Caliskan1620600Below expectations
Benji Michel43100Did not deliver

San Jose Earthquakes (9 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Vitor Costa28207723Fair
Hernán López Muñoz24184062Below expectations
Amahl Pellegrino32174472Below expectations
William Yarbrough33163400Fair
Bruno Wilson15104112Good
Preston Judd2773410Did not deliver
Alfredo Morales3265800Did not deliver
Jacob Jackson1327000Below expectations
Casey Walls *5000Investment

Seattle Sounders (5 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Pedro de la Vega1874511Fair
Daniel Musovski3155011Did not deliver
Jonathan Bell2850910Below expectations
Nathan1518100Did not deliver
Osaze De Rosario *0000Investment

Sporting Kansas City (4 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Memo Rodríguez28163025Fair
Zorhan Bassong33127301Did not deliver
Joaquin Fernandez211600Did not deliver
Rick1000Did not deliver

St. Louis City (11 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Tomas Totland32243321Fair
Christopher Durkin27227512Below expectations
Marcel Hartel982735Excellent
Cedric Teuchert1077154Good
Jayden Reid1675302Did not deliver
Henry Kessler868210Good
Jannes Horn957201Below expectations
Simon Becher954940Fair
Michael Wentzel *918000Investment
Nicolas Dyhr1314300Did not deliver
Rick11300Did not deliver

Toronto FC (6 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Matthew Longstaff32226122Fair
Kevin Long27214200Fair
Deybi Flores31211011Fair
Nickseon Gomis24206900Did not deliver
Derrick Etienne24165930Below expectations
Henry Wingo417500Did not deliver

Vancouver Whitecaps (11 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Fafà Picault33195096Good
Bjorn Utvik36174300Fair
Damir Kreilach3053621Fair
Ralph Priso3150201Below expectations
Stuart Armstrong1042022Fair
Giuseppe Bovalina *1619300Investment
Belal Halbouni2117900Did not deliver
Édier Ocampo *1017300Investment
Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau *32800Investment
Rick21000Did not deliver
Joe Bendik6000Did not deliver