Jan 5 San Diego FC Acquire; CJ dos Santos, Andres Reyes, Anibal Godoy & More To Create Year One Roster | OneFootball

San Diego FC have started to aggressively build out their first year roster! I’ve covered some of these moves already in recent articles on the site, so I may not spend too much time of each move but here we go… it’s a lot.

San Diego has shaped their goalkeeper room with four moves; loaning out Duran Ferree to sister club FC Nordsjaelland. The 18 year old has already been out on loan with the Danish club and has been playing with their youth sides. San Diego has also selected goalkeeper Jacob Jackson in the MLS Re-Entry Draft. The 24 year old San Diego native has 7 career first team minutes between San Jose and New England along with a slew of 2nd team appearances for those organizations as well. To me, it seems like Jackson will slide into the 3rd goalkeeper role on the roster. And to me, the backup goalkeeper role is going to be filled by their free agent signing of Pablo Sisniega. The 29 year old is a former Supporters’ Shield winner with LAFC who played last season with San Antonio FC in the USL Championship. Sisniega last played in MLS with Charlotte FC where he made 5 appearances for the club. The last goalkeeper moves came via trade with Inter Miami. Miami sent CJ dos Santos to San Diego for $100,000 in GAM. The former U.S. youth international won a Supporters’ Shield and Leagues Cup title with Inter Miami in recent seasons. Dos Santos departed Benfica’s youth system a few seasons ago where he played for their U19, U23, and Benfica B sides. He came to Inter Miami in 2022 and since then has made 3 appearances for the first team. Reports and rumours are circling out there that dos Santos is being slated as San Diego’s #1, which, would make this the first time in his young career that he is being given a shot at the starting role for a first team.

Moving from the goalkeeper room to the backline, San Diego have added two MLS experienced players to their defense. First, San Diego FC have acquired centerback Andres Reyes from the New York Red Bulls for $800,000 in GAM and the Red Bulls retain a sell on %. The 25 year old Colombian international comes over from the Red Bulls where he played 98 games and last season was a big part in the team making it to MLS Cup. Prior to New York, Reyes played 13 games for Inter Miami. I rate Reyes very high in terms of centerbacks within the league, especially at his age, however I have concerns with the amount of GAM spent on him. The other defensive addition for San Diego was Christopher McVey from D.C. United in which they traded $50,000 in GAM for (with potential for another $50,000 in GAM if certain incentives are hit). McVey is another former Inter Miami player, a club in which he appeared 61 times for and won the 2023 Leagues Cup. McVey played last season with D.C. United where he made 28 appearances for Troy Lesesne. Two experienced MLS centerbacks, one of which in Reyes that I think will be a starter for this club.

San Diego has made two more moves since the end of MLS Cup, the free agency signing of Anibal Godoy and trade for Tomas Angel. San Diego has signed 34 year old Panamanian international Anibal Godoy ahead of the 2025 season. The MLS veteran defensive midfielder last played for Nashville SC where he made 131 career appearances for. Godoy also made 103 appearances for the San Jose Earthquakes in his MLS career. He looks to be a potential starter and rotational piece for this new expansion side. San Diego also acquired striker Tomas Angel and a 2025 SuperDraft selection from LAFC for $200,000 in GAM. Angel only made 7 appearances for LAFC with 2 goals, along with an additional 300 minutes played for LAFC 2. In 2024, he went on loan to Phoenix Rising in the USL Championship where he scored 3 goals in 15 games played.

San Diego has made a slew of moves prior to the start of the 2025 off-season, they’ve made these moves, and will continue to make a bunch more prior to the start of the season.