First cash trade in MLS history – Sporting Kansas City sign Dejan Joveljic from LA Galaxy

For $4m  

©TM/IMAGO

It is the first cash-for-player trade in Major League Soccer history. On Saturday evening,  Sporting Kansas City announced that the club has acquired 25-year-old striker Dejan Joveljic from the  LA Galaxy in exchange for $4 million (€3.86m) the second biggest deal in club history (overview). Sporting KC also signed Joveljic to a new Designated Player contract until 2027 with a club option for 2028. By announcing the deal now, both organizations beat out a deal that has been agreed on today between Philadelphia Union and Houston Dynamo for midfielder Jack McGlynn.  

Ahead of the 2025 season, MLS announced that clubs were allowed to acquire up to two players and trade away up to two players per year for cash. Similar to transfer fees, clubs may then convert revenue generated by these trades to General Allocation Money, and the cash spent to acquire the player via trade will be applied to the player’s salary budget charge. 

There have been some speculations on which player will be the first to be acquired with this mechanism. There have been rumors surrounding Portland Timbers’ Evander and FC Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta. Then, on Saturday, news broke that Philadelphia and Houston had reached an agreement to transfer McGlynn. It was understood that the American would become the first player to be transferred using the new mechanism, but then the LA Galaxy and Sporting Kansas City beat their rivals to the punch by announcing the Joveljic deal late on Saturday. 

In fairness, talks between the two clubs have been progressing for some time, and several media reports have suggested that a deal was close. Now it is official. But what can Joveljic add to Sporting KC? Most importantly, goals. Joveljic scored 21 goals and seven assists in 33 games across all competitions for the Galaxy last season. The striker also scored the opening goal in LA Galaxy’s 2-1 win over the New York Red Bulls in the MLS Cup final. Sporting KC now hope that he can build on his prolific season with the Galaxy and fill the void that was created when  Alan Pulido returned to Mexico earlier this offseason.