SEATTLE - As the European season winds down and players run out of their contracts, summer is always the time of the year in which rumors of big name players making a move to Major League Soccer start to surface all over the internet. This time around is no different.
Less than a week ago, LAFC confirmed that former World Cup winner Olivier Giroud will be joining the club this summer after agreeing to a one-year deal with the Black and Gold. The 37-year-old will leave Europe after a successful 18-year career there that included league titles in France, England and Italy, a UEFA Champions League title and more than 300 goals scored.
But Giroud is not the only name that has realistic chances of moving to MLS in the summer. Players such as Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane and Marco Reus are out of contract by the end of the current European season and will look for opportunities across the Atlantic to further their careers.
The latest rumor to hit the internet has Reus as a potential signing for Charlotte FC. According to Tom Bogert of The Athletic, Charlotte FC is in talks to sign the German who is set to play his last game for Borussia Dortmund on June 1 at this year's Champions League final.
Although Charlotte FC has been linked as the club to bring the German international to the United States, more MLS teams are interested in signing the soon-to-be free agent. St. Louis CITY FC held preliminary talks with Reus but Charlotte holds the player's discovery rights which means they have top priority to sign the player. If any MLS team wants to swoop in, they would have to acquire Reus' discovery rights.
Just like Reus, Spanish defender Sergio Ramos is out of contract at the end of the month. There have been rumors of Ramos joining MLS for years but seems like this time is for real, with expansion team San Diego FC looking to sign the legendary defender ahead of the club's 2025 debut.
The new MLS team wants to add star power to their roster and Ramos wouldn't be the only big name joining the club, as San Diego has held talks with Mexican star Hirving "Chucky" Lozano for a potential move to MLS.
Another Spanish defender that is out of contract is Real Madrid's captain Nacho. He is set to leave the Spanish giants at the end of June and MLS is one of his top destinations. According to reports from Marca, Nacho prefers a move to the United States instead of Saudi Arabia, having already rejected multi-million deals from the Middle East.
Giroud's move to LAFC could be the very beginning of a busy summer transfer window in MLS. In 2023, there were five high-profile names from European teams that joined MLS during the summer transfer window, headlined by Lionel Messi's arrival to Inter Miami.
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