FC Cincinnati have announced the club’s protected list for the 2024 MLS Expansion Draft, which will be conducted Wednesday, December 11 at 10:30 p.m. ET.
As the newest MLS expansion club, San Diego FC, prepare to play their first season in 2025, the team may select up to five players in preparation for their inaugural season. However, only a single player can be drafted from any one club.
The 29 MLS clubs that competed during the 2024 season can protect 12 players from their Senior and Supplemental rosters. If a player’s contract expires at the end of 2024, he will still be considered part of the club’s roster. If a club protects a player, the club is not obligated to exercise the player’s option. The club may renegotiate a new contract with the player as in previous years, subject to the CBA.
Generation adidas players who occupy Roster Slots 21-24 and Homegrown Players 25 years old and under in the year in which the Expansion Draft takes place on a club’s roster at the end of the 2024 MLS Season are automatically protected. Clubs do not have to use a protected slot on them.
Designated Players and other discretionary players are NOT automatically protected (i.e., clubs must choose whether to protect such players and if such player is not protected, he will be available for selection in the Expansion Draft).
Clubs with four or more international players must protect at least three international players, excluding any automatically protected players. If a Club has only three international players, it must protect two. If a Club has only two international players, it must protect one. A Club that has only one international player is not required to protect that player.
The full list of protected players is available at MLSSoccer.com.
FC Cincinnati Protected List:
- Luciano Acosta
- Álvaro Barreal
- Pavel Bucha
- Roman Celentano
- Teenage Hadebe
- Kevin Kelsy
- Yuya Kubo
- Matt Miazga
- Obinna Nwobodo
- Luca Orellano
- Miles Robinson
- DeAndre Yedlin
Automatically Protected FC Cincinnati Players:
- Arquimides Ordoñez (Homegrown Player)
- Stiven Jimenez (Homegrown Player)
- Gerardo Valenzuela (Homegrown Player)
- Paul Walters (Homegrown Player)
2025 offseason roster building events continue with the opening of Free Agency and the End-of-Year Waivers process on Thursday, Dec. 12, and Stage 1 of the Re-Entry Process on Friday, Dec. 13. Stage 2 of the Re-Entry Process will take place on Thursday, Dec. 19, and will be followed by MLS SuperDraft 2025 on Friday, Dec. 20.
More information on the 2024-25 Offseason Roster Building Events can be found HERE.
Further Key Parameters:
- Five Rounds: San Diego FC may select up to five players from the eligible pool of players, claiming only a single player from any one club.
- Selection clock: San Diego FC will be permitted three minutes for each selection.
- Timeouts: No timeouts.
- Trades: No trades are permitted during the 2024 MLS Expansion Draft.
- General Allocation Money (GAM):
- Clubs that have a player selected in the Expansion Draft will receive $50,000 in General Allocation Money.
- Clubs eligible for Compensatory Allocation under the CBA provision regarding bona fide offers to free agents shall not be eligible for an additional $50,000 of GAM if that player is selected in the Expansion Draft.
For further rules and procedures on the 2024 MLS Expansion draft, visit the official MLS website, HERE.
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