The release of the 2025 USL Championship and Jägermeister Cup schedule was the highlight of the past week in league news, but there was still plenty of activity as clubs continued to build their rosters for the new season.

Here are nine transactions that caught our eye, including key retentions and free agent signings that have the potential to make an impact on their new club in the new campaign.

1. New Mexico United exercises Mukwelle Akale’s contract option

When you’re coming off the best campaign in club history, retaining the core group that delivered that success is a no-brainer, but New Mexico United retaining Mukwelle Akale brings back arguably the most influential player in the side’s lineup from the 2024 campaign.

The 27-year-old led the side with five assists, 47 chances created, 35 chances created from open play, and a Goals Added mark of +7.04 per American Soccer Analysis, which ranked sixth overall among wingers. He also bagged four goals across the Championship’s regular season and playoffs, which is the number Akale will want to improve on in 2025. His Expected Goals mark sat second on the team at 7.02xG only for his shot conversion rate to sit at just 9.52 percent, but that offers a glimpse of the level this former League One title-winner could rise to as he makes his return to Isotopes Park in the new year.

2. Loudoun United signs Wesley Leggett to a multi-year contract

If Loudoun United bringing back Florian Valot was a sign of the progress the club has been making over the past two years, bringing back fellow attacking piece Wesley Leggett on a multi-year extension is another good piece of work after the 23-year-old had a breakout second season for the club.

Leggett’s eight goals ranked second on the team as he posted a 64.7 percent shooting accuracy rate and 23.5 percent shot conversion rate. His ability to retain possession in tight spaces and good shooting looks showed a clear step forward and resulted in him earning a team-high +6.65 Goals Added mark per American Soccer Analysis – which also stands as the second-highest single-season mark in Loudoun’s history. If Leggett continues his trajectory, he’ll be a key piece in United’s drive toward the postseason but could also draw more eyeballs from higher levels.

3. Pittsburgh Riverhounds signs Junior Etou to multi-year extension

There’s something about Junior Etou that almost makes him the ideal Bob Lilley player. The 30-year-old’s ability to slot into multiple positions and adapt to the regular tweaks Lilley makes during a game to try and get the most out of his lineup have made in arguably the Hounds’ most valuable players over the past two seasons – his +10.81 Goals Added mark since joining before the 2023 season is the highest on the team.

Etou’s 2024, however, was his best since arriving in the Championship with the Charlotte Independence a few years ago. His +6.88 Goals Added rating graded out as the second-highest among full backs as he won 32 tackles at a 68.1 percent success rate, recorded two goals and three assists while also winning three penalty kicks after being fouled in the penalty area – one off the league-high – while keeping opposing wingers in check.

Etou’s first call-up and appearance to the Congo Men’s National Team shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone who was watching, and now he’ll be at Highmark Stadium for the foreseeable future.

4. Phoenix Rising signs young playmaker Hope Avayevu

If you want to get really high on the upside Hope Avayevu could have as he arrives at Phoenix Rising FC, you only need to look at the last time he was being guided by new Rising Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah. In their one season together at North Texas SC in 2022, the 22-year-old recorded five goals and nine assists in 1,719 minutes in MLS NEXT Pro, posting a +7.18 Goals Added rate that season.

Those numbers have gone down a fraction in the past two seasons, but it’s still instructive that in limited minutes for Ventura County FC – the club formerly known as the LA Galaxy II – this past season he was able to rack up four assists in 413 minutes across the regular season and playoffs. That put Avayevu at 17 assists in 51 appearances in MLSNP all-time as well as 11 goals. If he can replicate that creativity in the second tier, Phoenix’s forward contingent is going to get to eat.

• GO DEEPER: Check out John Morrissey’s Player Radar for Avayevu’s past two seasons

5. Monterey Bay F.C. adds defender Jacob Muir

There’s a major rebuild going on at Monterey Bay this offseason as Head Coach Jordan Stewart and Technical Director Simon Dawkins enters their first full campaign at the helm. The addition of left-sided defender Jacob Muir is one of the more interesting moves the side has made so far, bringing in a 22-year-old who was drawing positive reviews while competing for hometown club Perth Glory in the Australian A-League until recent months.

Muir logged 2,108 minutes across 33 appearances in Australia’s top flight since his debut as a 19-year-old and was well-thought of enough that only last year he signed a new multi-year extension with the Glory. While he hadn’t made a league appearance yet this season, featuring only in the Australia Cup, there could be reason for optimism he can slot into MBFC’s lineup quickly. With former El Paso Locomotive midfielder Liam Rose now a regular starter for Macarthur FC – currently mid-table in the new season – the level feels comparable and could see Muir take advantage of his new surroundings.

6. Orange County signs forward Tristan Trager

On the face of it, Tristan Trager’s arrival feels like a classic Orange County SC signing. Take a player whose shown potential at his previous stops, plug him into the lineup and potentially reap the rewards.

Trager has scored 21 goals in 73 appearances in the USL Championship over the past three seasons, each of which has been spent at three different clubs – Atlanta United 2 in 2022, the Charleston Battery in 2023 and Monterey Bay F.C. in 2024. There’s been a positive trend in his all-around performance each season, though, with his eight goals in Monterey Bay this past campaign coming at a strike rate of a goal every 157 minutes with a career-best Goals Added mark of +6.14.

There might be a concern about his durability – Trager has never played more than 1,531 minutes in a season, which he logged for Charleston – but everything else seems to be pointing in the right direction to make this a shrewd addition.

7. Hartford Athletic signs forward Jonathan Jimenez Vargas

What’s the old phrase? If you can’t beat them, sign them? That’s a little bit harsh on Hartford Athletic, who were doomed to elimination by New York City FC II in this past year’s edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup by profligate finishing, but adding Jonathan Jimenez Vargas – who provided two assists for NYCFC II in that contest – feels like another sharp attacking move for Head Coach Brendan Burke’s side.

A Connecticut native, Jimenez Vargas was more than a one-game wonder for New York. The 23-year-old put up 23 goals and 11 assists in three seasons in MLS NEXT Pro, and his Goals Added mark of +20.18 grades out as the second-highest in the reserve league’s history per American Soccer Analysis. Add that to returning center forward Mamadou Dieng and winger Michee Ngalina and Hartford has another bright young attacking piece for its squad.

8. Jacob Greene signs with Lexington SC

Lexington SC’s roster build has continued apace this week with four new arrivals, the most interesting of which is former D.C. United defender Jacob Greene. Still only 21 years old, the Maryland native has already accumulated more than 100 appearances in the professional ranks, the majority of which came with Loudoun United FC while he was coming through the D.C. United system.

Where Lexington is going to have to start with Greene is figuring out his best position. With Loudoun, he predominantly played on the left of defense, from where he notched three goals, two assists and 60 chances created in 73 appearances. This past season at Columbus Crew 2, however, he was shifted around the lineup, making nine of his 25 appearances at center back while also appearing in multiple midfield positions. Defining Greene’s role is going to be crucial to getting the most out of his potential.

9. Sacramento Republic FC signs wingback Michel Benítez

The phrasing of Sacramento Republic FC’s signing of Michel Benítez offered a tell as to how the side sees the 28-year-old being employed in its lineup in the 2025 season, coming in as an option for the now out-of-contract Damia Viader and Aldair Sanchez – whom the club remains in discussions with on a return – on the left side of its lineup.

Benítez has recorded 19 goals in 125 regular season appearances in Ascenso MX and figures to be the complement to returning right-side wingback Jack Gurr in Republic FC’s system. With the experience he brings from the top two flights of Mexican soccer – including competing for Chivas de Guadalajara in Liga MX – we’re intrigued to see the sort of impact Benítez can make in his first season with Republic FC.