With each team’s end-of-season roster updates officially compiled, submitted and approved earlier this week, the offseason is truly underway. The Spirit didn’t have too many surprises, just a couple heartbreaking ones we were hoping to avoid. Players listed as free agents aren’t set in stone to no longer be Spirit players, but new deals would have to be worked out (unfortunately, it sounds as if Anna Heilferty’s time with the Spirit is up).

However, as the offseason demands, now we must look ahead, which is actually a difficult task with this new era of the Spirit. In the past I’ve been guilty of showing more ambition—admittedly with zero dollars to commit to any of my causes—than previous ownership, but this time ambition abounds and nothing seems far-fetched. No one, myself included, had any idea Jonatan Giráldez would leave Barcelona after back-to-back Champions League titles to coach in Washington, DC. But here we are.

While there’s no cap on what can be spent on coaches, facilities or other staff, the player salary cap exists and can double as a cap on ambition in payer recruitment as well. Another mechanism that’s in the way is the Net Transfer Fee Threshold, which is a soft limit on total spent on transfer fees in which 25% of any overage will be counted against a team’s salary cap. Last offseason the threshold was set at $500,000, and that’s presumably the same this season though we have yet to see a completed CBA to be sure. Teams have skirted this already by splitting payments across windows, so workarounds are possible.

Still, despite these mechanisms, we’ve seen nothing but ambition from Y. Michele Kang since she acquired the team. Also, with billionaire Magic Johnson having joined the ownership group, I don’t foresee a tightening of Kang’s proverbial (or very real Birkin bag) purse strings, especially when the team was so close to another championship. The only thing we likely won’t see are transfers between clubs she owns, so while I would love Lyon’s Melchie Dumornay or Tabitha Chawinga to join the Spirit, it’s unlikely.

Needs

First things first, we need to make a list of positions or roles the team might be looking to bolster this offseason. Straight away, star midfielder Andi Sullivan tore her ACL in early October, and even an optimistic timeline won’t see her back until the latter portion of next season. When Sullivan went down Hal Hershfelt showed she can handle the lone defensive midfielder role, and despite the development of Courtney Brown and Heather Stainbrook, another experienced midfield partner is likely needed.

The same could go for a wide attacker as well. While Leicy Santos and Croix Bethune have played together – which has pushed either in wide areas – neither are classic wide attackers. Rosemonde Kouassi is, and was a revelation. While her dribbling and expected assists (xA) numbers that were off the charts for the relatively small amount of minutes she played having joined the team in August, she still hasn’t scored her first goal. Also, getting the best out of Trinity Rodman likely means lightening the load she has to carry – and therefore be targeted – week after week. Another goalscoring wide player who’s comfortable cutting in or making central runs could also be on the list.

Heading to defense, there’s likely an opening for someone to compete for minutes at right back. Casey Krueger can play either side but seems to be preferred on the left. Kate Wiesner is a naturally left footed left back, while Gabby Carle can play either side as well but has often been deployed on the right. The Paige Matayer, RB experiment worked swimmingly, but seemed to fall into a situational/gameplan thing they stumbled upon. Either way, another right back is worth a look.

With Ashley Hatch stepping in seamlessly to replace Ouleye Sarr one wouldn’t think striker would be on the list, but it all depends on the extent of Sarr’s back injury. She never returned to the pitch after having to leave the game early versus Portland on September 7. The Spirit also placed her on the SEI list after the Championship game, which may have just been relevant to postseason paperwork, or a sign that she’s going to be out even longer. It’s hard to speculate, but if Sarr can’t start 2025 healthy the Spirit will need another central striker to compete for minutes with Hatch.

Alright then, our list is set. We’ll be looking for a center midfielder, wide forward, right back, and striker. Good, enough of my rambling, let’s do some dreaming.

Potential Targets

For each need I’m going to identify a logical choice, and an ambitious one. Ambitious could refer to the player’s current situation (whether comfort or contractual), the amount of potential clubs vying for their services, or hefty potential transfer fee. After, I’ll compare the logical and ambitious choices.

Midfielders

Logical: Narumi Miura
Roster update day usually comes with a handful of surprises that aren’t really surprises. Well-known names may appear to be hitting the open market but in reality it’s just that the fancy pens haven’t been brought out yet for signatures, or that the NWSL’s fax machine needs a minute. This was presumed to be the case for Narumi Miura, who seems comfortable in North Carolina. Except the Courage made it a point to claim that they were in negotiations with Kerolin, but did not say the same about Miura.

If available, she could be the perfect fit for the Spirit midfield. She’s versatile enough to sit next to Hershfelt as another defensive obstruction to the opposition, but she’s also clever enough in her passing and mobile enough in her positioning to roam further forward. While she’s been primarily utilized for her defensive skills and didn’t register a single goal or assist in 2024, something still tells me there’s a dash of crafty chance creator in her game too. Giráldez’s style could be the thing to unlock that aspect of her game, in addition to the defensive work we know she excels at in this league.

Ambitious: Keira Walsh
Rumor has been that Walsh wants out of Barcelona. Their midfield is a bit stacked, and as if two Ballon d’Or winners plus Patri Guijarro aren’t enough competition, there’s also Ingrid Engen and 18-year-old La Masia product Vicky López. Over the summer there were strong rumors that Walsh was headed back to England to play for Arsenal, but that never happened.

Walsh is a classic possession style defensive midfielder, who is solid with her positioning but really shines with the ball at her feet. She can drop dimes from deep, or play the metronome role to keep the ball moving into space, making buildup sequences easy, and relentless.

My view
While I love ambition and the idea of poaching a player from Barcelona is exactly the kind of chaos I’ve been impatiently waiting for, I don’t think this is the correct opportunity. Hal Hershfelt has already shown she can handle the lone defensive midfield role, so I would prefer the more versatile option, and that’s Miura.

Right Back

Logical: Tatumn Milazzo
Genuinely shocked to see Milazzo become available. There’s a possibility that she re-signs with Chicago on improved terms, but if not she’ll be one of the top defensive players available.

Chicago’s style in 2024 was a low block that invited tons of pressure, putting a lot of strain on players’ ability to defend well in dangerous areas – over, and over, and over again. Milazzo performed well, winning a high rate of aerial duels and an 84% Tack/DP%, which measures the number of times a player makes a tackle in a duel versus being dribbled past. The caveat is that Chicago’s gameplans didn’t offer many opportunities to contribute in possession and attack, so there are question marks about her fit within a possession-based system. Could be that no one has unlocked that side of her game, or it could be that she’s purely a defensive specialist.

Ambitious: Jayde Riviere
Despite injuries early in her professional career, Jayde Riviere seems fully fit and fulfilling every bit of her promise. Manchester United are currently (and still) being coached by former Orlando Pride coach, Marc Skinner, which is to say that they are very much mid. However, Riviere has stood out.

Manchester United as a club overall has been down bad over the past few years, and have scuffed a lot of the shine that used to allure fans and players across the globe. While new owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, will tell anyone any time how committed he is to turning the men’s team around, he often speaks of the women’s team as an annoyance. That’s a less than ideal environment and attitude from a club that didn’t have a women’s team until Casey Stoney built one for them in 2018. Stoney also left Manchester for San Diego because of a lack of support and resources. This all means that any Manchester United player of note should be eager to listen intently to new opportunities.

My View
Milazzo is NWSL-ready and can begin competing straightaway, but the possession-based question marks are worrying. According to StatsBomb, over her past four seasons with the Red Stars she has nine total key passes (passes leading directly to a shot) and just two assists. She has split some time at center back so that’s a factor as well, but it’s still not great. The low assist total doesn’t bother me, but the total key passes does. It signals she’s either not getting into forward spaces, or is but isn’t able to link well with teammates.

Conversely, this season for United Riviere has started six times, made seven appearances overall, and already has six key passes. The leagues and approaches are quite different, but in terms of skillset Riviere feels like a more natural fit without sacrificing defensive stability. Also, I am very much on board with rescuing players from Man United until the owners get their sh*t together and treat the women’s team with the professionalism it deserves.

Wide Forward

Logical: Deyna Castellanos
Hear me out. No really, please hear me out. In terms of big money moves that didn’t work out (at least in one season), Bay FC had two – Penelope Hocking, who they’re spending $350,000 on over two windows, and Deyna Castellanos, who they paid $225,000 to bring from Manchester City. But – and I cannot stress this enough – hear me out.

On paper this move seemed great for Bay FC, who also brought in Asisat Oshoala and set the women’s transfer record to add Racheal Kundananji. The latter hooped. Everyone else? Eh. Especially Castellanos, who eventually lost her starting role then played only spot minutes toward the latter quarter of the season. There’s still a really talented baller in there, evidenced by her Atlético Madrid days, but her confidence seems lost. With a new structure and clearer emphasis on where to find space and what to do with it, Castellanos could find the version of her that made the three-player shortlist for The Best FIFA Women’s Player in 2017. Also, she’s still just 25.

Ambitious: Salma Paralluelo
Paralluelo is a track star turned footballer who announced herself with Barcelona, then with Spain, scoring important goals in the quarter- and semi-finals as they went on to win their first World Cup trophy in 2023.

Paralluelo can play on the left wing or as a central striker, but in either role is on the pitch to do one thing and one thing only: shoot. The above radar represents her 9 games started and 11 appearances for Barcelona in the Champions League last year, which they won. She scored six goals and dropped one assist, but the primary standouts are her high rate of shots, expected goals (xG) per 90, and touches in the box. If defenses have to constantly worry about Paralluelo darting toward goal, that will give Rodman time and space she hasn’t had since her rookie year.

My View
Ok so the problem with Castellanos might not be entirely her fault. After all, no one looked particularly great in the first half of Bay’s season. One mistake I believe they made was not really understanding where Castellanos should play. Below are all the positions in which she was deployed last season.

That is too many positions. Sometimes I respect the ‘just get your most talented players on the pitch’ theory, but when your team is brand new that creates confusion. Also, Castellanos didn’t spend much time in positions I think are her best, CAM and right wing. She likes inside spaces and drifting around the box, so shouldn’t be thought of as a classic winger, but if a fullback pushes up to maintain width, her tucking in is ideal. The Spirit do this, and I think Castellanos would relish the more familiar role.

Paralluelo is potentially an even more precarious case. She’s currently struggling with ‘muscular imbalance‘ stemming from an ACL tear in her left knee three years ago. Though Barcelona expect her to return in the second half of their season, the music you’re potentially hearing is Dawn Scott’s. I’m torn on this one because both are high risk/high reward scenarios, and for different reasons. Paralluelo’s best seasons were under Giráldez, and she just turned 21 in November. Even if the Spirit would have to be cautious for a season, she’s a devastating player when healthy and would be worth it. I give the nod to Paralluelo.

Striker

Logical: Jordynn Dudley
Dudley is a 5’11 center forward who is in her sophomore year at Florida State University. She also competed for the USWNT in the U20 World Cup earlier this year. Dudley is incredibly skilled for her height and age (20). Given the versatility of her game, there’s likely to be a bidding war if she’s planning on going pro, but Mark Krikorian’s contacts could provide a boost.

Ambitious: Ella Stevens
It would take a bit of a bag to bring Stevens to the Spirit since she’s not scheduled to become a free agent until 2027, but it would be worth it. Esther became Gotham’s primary striker once she was healthy, which pushed Stevens into deeper and wider spaces. While those aren’t the best utilization of her craftiness in central areas or the box, she performed extremely well.

Stevens has sauce upon sauce, which is not typically a thing we see in center forwards. But Ouleye Sarr has a bit, which made her linkup play with Croix Bethune and Trinity Rodman a lot of fun to watch. Stevens could bring a lot of the same, and if she happens to be nudged into a wider role we know she can link well with teammates, and believes in the beautiful football ethos of ‘pass and move’.

My View
If Sarr is expected to be healthy at the beginning of the season then I think it’s worth saving the money on a transfer fee and bringing in Dudley. But if Sarr is expected to miss another chunk of the season, then having Stevens compete with Ashley Hatch would give Giráldez the classic ‘good problem to have’ of multiple talented players to choose from. Without more information I can’t call this one, but would be delighted for either to join the Spirit.