The offseason is in full swing across the USL Championship as clubs start to build their squads for the 2026 season, including some notable transfers and free agent signings that should have an impact on their new clubs in the spring.

Here are 12 moves from the past 10 days that grabbed our attention and that could prove impactful in the new year.

12. Detroit City FC signs defender Aedan Stanley

Following the retirements of both Le Rouge mainstay Steven Carroll and more recent arrival Shane Wiedt this offseason, the club needed to start rebuilding its back line to accompany holdovers Devon Amoo-Mensah and Michael Bryant. With his versatility and experience, Aedan Stanley looks like a good proposition to fit into the back three system favored by Head Coach Danny Dichio as he come back from a season-ending injury at Indy Eleven last season.

Stanley’s full recovery from a torn ACL last May could offer a small concern, but his past performance has shown the 26-year-old can bring plenty to his new surroundings, having accumulated 140 appearances across the regular season and playoffs since making his debut as a 16-year-old. All of Stanley’s numbers are solid – he’s even been a bit short-changed in the assists department, logging 15 on an Expected Assists mark of 18.04xA – and should be a solid contributor.  

11. Hartford Athletic acquires Matt Real from Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC

It’s a matter of come back to what you know for Matt Real as he heads to Hartford Athletic, with the Pennsylvania native reuniting with former Head Coach Brendan Burke in what’s become a somewhat familiar path since Burke took the helm at Trinity Health Park. Real made 59 appearances for the Philadelphia Union II at the start of his career when Burke was at the helm, but his experience since then will make him a solid addition and potential replacement in the back line for the retired Joe Farrell as Hartford aims to continue its progress this season.

Real was a solid contributor for the Switchbacks during their run to the USL Championship title in 2024, but can provide the defensive bite Hartford will miss with Farrell’s departure. He’s won 157 tackles in 111 appearances overall at a success rate of 65.2 percent while also winning 55.2 percent of duels. As he heads back to the northeast, Real should fit in well in his new surroundings.

10. Indy Eleven signs Eric Dick

Of the issues that sunk Indy Eleven’s bid for another trip to the USL Championship Playoffs in 2025, the lack of consistency in net was near the top of the list. The trio of goalkeepers the side used in league play – Hunter Sulte, Reice Charles-Cook and Luke Pruter – combined for a save percentage of 59.7% and a +11.23 Goals Prevented mark, which isn’t ideal for a team that entered the year with big aspirations.

That made the signing of newly-minted 2025 USL Championship Final MVP Eric Dick the logical move for the Boys in Blue, returning the 31-year-old to the city where he played college soccer at Butler University after consecutive impressive seasons at Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. Over the past two regular seasons, Dick’s save percentage of 75.4% leads all goalkeepers with at least 30 appearances, while he’s also delivered a -8.96 Goals Prevented mark that should immediately upgrade Indy’s goalkeeping position.

9. Las Vegas Lights FC signs forward Manuel Arteaga

After the high of a career-best 18 goals for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 2024, it’s easy to look at Manuel Arteaga’s output of nine goals and three assists in just over 2,000 minutes over the past campaign as a let-down. That would underestimate the veteran forward’s all-around game, which still saw him produce good underlying numbers in relation to his fellow No. 9s around the league, and could make for a smart pick-up by the Lights as they rebuild this offseason.

Even with his reduced production, Arteaga still ranked ninth among strikers with a +5.99 Goals Added mark per American Soccer Analysis this past season, ahead of his more prolific teammate Woobens Pacius. Over his two seasons in Tampa Bay, the Venezuelan consistently did work on the defensive side of the ball – he won possession 40 times in the attacking third in 65 appearances – and has become a consistent finisher with a career 18.6 percent shot conversion rate. Adding a player who’s recorded 57 goals and 18 assists in five seasons should help lift Las Vegas’ struggling attack in 2026.

8. Miami FC acquires Mason Tunbridge from South Georgia Tormenta FC

After his breakout season at South Georgia Tormenta FC, it shouldn’t be a surprise that a USL Championship club came calling for Mason Tunbridge. That it was Miami FC might not be a surprise either, with the South Florida club having added some solid pieces from USL League One over the past two offseasons including defender Daltyn Knutson and Allen Gavilanes.

Tunbridge is coming off a season in which he recorded 10 goals and seven assists for Tormenta, helping propel one of the best attacks in League One into the postseason. The English playmaker put up a +5.35 Goals Added mark over the regular season, and while he might need to become more engaged on the defensive side of the ball, he should add to a squad that averaged fewer than a goal per game in the 2025 regular season.

7. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC signs Frank Daroma

On its own, signing Frank Daroma isn’t an automatic game-changer for a team. What Daroma can do in the center of midfield, though, has the potential to make everyone around him better, as he did while helping El Paso Locomotive FC rebound from a last-place finish in the 2024 season to a top-four finish in the Western Conference this year.

The diminutive 24-year-old might not have received the plaudits of fellow midfielders Eric Calvillo and Gabriel Torres, but his ability to connect passes and progress play with the ball at his feet looks like a tremendous fit for the way the Switchbacks have wanted to play. Over two stints in the Championship with Las Vegas and El Paso, he’s completed 108 dribbles at a 63.2 percent success rate while also completing 3,810 passes at a 90.7 percent accuracy rate. He might not put up big attacking numbers, but Daroma can make a team tick in tremendous fashion.

6. Oakland Roots SC signs Keegan Tingey

It’s been reunion week in Oakland as three of new Roots Head Coach Ryan Martin’s charges have joined him on the west coast. While Florian Valot’s addition might be the most eye-catching of the three – the French playmaker’s potential connection with Peter Wilson could be tremendous – the addition of Keegan Tingey shouldn’t go overlooked.

A local product from the East Bay, Tingey was one of the most consistent performers in Loudoun’s rise to a first postseason berth in the past two years. The 25-year-old was durable, logging more than 5,000 minutes across the regular season and playoffs, and was a strong two-way performer with three goals, three assists and 45 chances created to go with 51 tackles won at a 68 percent success rate and 190 recoveries. Tingey ranks seventh among full backs with a +7.79 over the past two regular seasons and should slot straight into the lineup back in California.

5. Sacramento Republic FC signs Arturo Rodriguez

There’s been a pleasing symmetry to Arturo Rodriguez’s three seasons at the Charleston Battery. In each, he recorded nine goal contributions in league play, finished in the mid-40s when it came to chances created and provided an underrated element to what proved a rising juggernaut that led the USL Championship with 62 goals in the past regular season.

Rodriguez will now bring that skillset to Sacramento Republic FC, where he might not be a centerpiece for the side’s attack but will be a strong supporting piece for Head Coach Neill Collins’ side. It’s easy to see Rodriguez as a replacement for the departed Cristian Parano, but the 27-year-old has improved his defensive work – in the past two seasons he’s set his best two percentage marks for duel success – and provides potential explosiveness from distance that can help Sacramento’s push for silverware.

4. Louisville City FC signs Mukwelle Akale

As dominant as Louisville City remained in claiming the Players’ Shield for a second consecutive season in 2025, one area where they might have lacked a little was in chance creation off the dribble and in one-on-one situations. LouCity completed only 149 dribbles in the regular season – an average of 4.97 per game – which ranked third-fewest in the league.

Enter Mukwelle Akale, who over the past two seasons at New Mexico United has been one of the league’s elite wingers. The 28-year-old has logged a +11.99 Goals Added rating – good for sixth among all wingers according to American Soccer Analysis – with his 71 completed dribbles ranking tied for fourth in the league. Akale will want to sharpen up his finishing as he gets to Louisville – he recorded seven goals on a 10.87xG mark for United – but he could offer LouCity’s attack a different dimension coming off the right wing.

3. San Antonio FC signs Mikey Maldonado

It’s been a long road home for Mikey Maldonado, who grew through his time in USL League One at North Texas SC and Forward Madison FC before flourishing at North Carolina FC over the past three seasons, but the San Antonio native is back in his hometown with SAFC with the potential to make a big impact on the club’s fortunes in 2026. Coming off arguably the best season of his career, the 27-year-old has the potential to not only add to the club’s midfield but help unlock his new teammates to help Head Coach Carlos Llamosa’s side continue to rise in the West.

Maldonado’s quality as a two-way midfielder was on full display this past season at NCFC, where he logged a career-best eight assists and 52 chances created while serving as a solid ball-winner in the center of the part for a side that rose to the No. 3 seed in the East at the end of the season. Over his past two campaigns, Maldonado has graded out as the fifth-ranked central midfielder with a +10.17 Goals Added mark, but where his impact could reverberate further is the freedom his presence will offer the likes of Jorge Hernández and Cristian Parano to operate further up the field and push San Antonio’s overall attacking output to greater heights.

2. Tampa Bay Rowdies sign MD Myers

The Tampa Bay Rowdies’ roster overhaul has been one of the stories of the offseason, with the arrival of forward MD Myers arguably the biggest addition to the squad so far. Over his first two seasons in the USL Championship, the only players to record more goals than Myers’ 29 across the regular season and playoffs are the duo that Myers shared the front line with at the Charleston Battery in Nick Markanich (30) and Cal Jennings (33).

Myers’ strike rate of a goal every 163.7 minutes has come through remarkable efficiency in front of net. He’s put 70 percent of his shots on target and logged a 29 percent shot conversion rate, both of which are high, but his ability to get into good positions is why he also has an Expected Goals mark of 26xG. Having also put up six goals in the U.S. Open Cup, the 24-year-old will be front and center in the Rowdies’ attacking rebuild alongside the likes of Russell Cicerone, Karsen Henderlong and Evan Conway.

1. Lexington SC acquires Aaron Molloy from Charleston Battery

If there’s a statement of intent as to where Lexington SC envisions itself in the 2026 season, paying a record fee for an intra-USL Championship transfer to acquire Aaron Molloy from the Charleston Battery is it. The central midfielder has earned four consecutive All-League First Team selections since his arrival in the league in 2022, standing as one of the most consistent two-way players in league history.

Since the start of the 2022 regular season, no-one has completed more passes than Molloy’s 7,181 or recorded more than his 27 assists. The 28-year-old also ranks first among outfield players in recoveries (844) and chances created (260) while ranking second in interceptions (188), Expected Assists (23.9xA) and fourth in duels won (676). LSC has dropped a stack on its new acquisition, but it could prove worth every penny.