It’s honestly quite difficult to come up with any words to summarize how impressive of an inaugural season it was for San Diego FC.

This season, the squad finished 1st in the Western Conference & fell in the Conference Finals of MLS Cup Playoffs after a 3-1 defeat to Vancouver WhiteCaps FC.

Taking a glance at the overall season, San Diego FC went 7-5-5 at home & 12-4-1 on the road. They scored 64 goals and allowed 41 goals in their first season in MLS.

With their roster decisions published, San Diego FC will have a high amount of roster flexibility.

The biggest questions for this group are: Will Hirving “Chucky” Lozano return to the club? How can this club make improvements to an already talented roster? Who do they really lose this offseason? Where are their positional needs?

In the offseason guide:

The Positives

Talk about a debut season for winger Anders Dreyer. The 27-year-old forward had an astonishing 38 goal contributions (19  goals & 19 assists) in 34 regular season games this season. It’s no shock that the DP forward was in contention for MLS MVP the entire season & won MLS Newcomer of the Year.

San Diego had the 4th best offense & 4th best defense in the league. Scoring 64 goals, their offense was threatening all season. Additionally, only allowing only 41 goals on the year, their back line was impenetrable.

San Diego had fifteen different goalscorers this season, with SEVEN of those players with 3+ goals (Dreyer, Iloski, Lozano, de la Torre, Valakari, Angel, & Pellegrino).

The Negatives

San Diego FC were quite honestly dominated in the MLS Western Conference Finals.

The club fell 3-1 versus Vancouver WhiteCaps FC. The match was all-over the place, where it featured an own-goal (in the 11th minute) & eventual red card (in the 79th minute) by goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega. 

San Diego FC was another team that failed to make it out of the group stage in the Leagues Cup this season. The club had 1 win & 2 losses in Leagues Cup after losing 3-2 versus Pachuca, losing 2-1 to Tigres, & winning 2-0 over 10-men Mazatlan.

What went wrong with Milan Iloski? The 26-year-old midfielder was on fire to start the season with San Diego (11 goal contributions - 10 goals & 1 assist in 14 games [472 minutes]) & then had his loan terminated in July so that he could return to Nordsjælland. The reason for termination was reportedly due to disagreements on contract extensions & figures between the player & the club. Less than two weeks later, Illoski returned to MLS & signed on a permanent deal with the Philadelphia Union (had 2 goals & 5 assists in 9 games with Philadelphia). 

Roster Flexibility

San Diego FC has a large amount of roster flexibility. At the moment, the club has two designated players (Anders Dreyer & Chucky Lozano) and three U-22 initiative signings (Tomas Angel, Heine Gikling Bruseth & Pedro Soma).

This club has the choice on whether it wants to enter the 3DP & 3U22 or 2DP & 4U22 model. In regard to GAM totals, the club has $3,424,625 of GAM (as of Sept. 18, 2025).

The club announced their end-of-season roster update, where they announced most contract option decisions. 

The club is entering the 2026 season with 26 players rostered as of December 9th.

Offseason Priorities

Determine whether or not Designated Player Chucky Lozano is going to return to the club. If not, sign a star caliber player to the roster.

Find a viable replacement for Luca de la Torre in the midfield.