Luca Bombino is heading to Stoke City for $5 million, and San Diego FC are banking on that money — and the moves that followed — being enough to sustain a late-season playoff push. It's a significant bet on a squad that's 8-6-8 and sitting eighth in the Western Conference.
The 20-year-old left back joined San Diego on loan from LAFC back in February 2025 and became one of the more impressive young defenders in the league. Five goals and six assists across 56 league appearances is a serious return for a fullback, and the English Football League Championship is a reasonable next step. He made his Stoke debut off the bench against Norwich on September 1. The club retains a sell-on percentage, which was smart business — Bombino won't stop developing there.
Duah is the next one to watch
While Bombino leaves, Manu Duah stays — and for a while. The club's No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft has been extended through the 2029-30 season, with a club option for 2030-31. That's a statement of intent from sporting director Tyler Heaps.
What makes Duah genuinely interesting is the position switch. He was a midfielder at UC Santa Barbara and has converted to center back in MLS, where he's started 44 matches across two seasons. That kind of positional adaptability at his age — combined with the athleticism to match — is exactly the profile that draws European attention. San Diego will be having this conversation again in a year or two, except next time the fee will be higher.
Replacing Bombino at left back falls to Kieran Sargeant and newly acquired Sam Vines, who arrives on loan from the Houston Dynamo in exchange for a 2028 third-round SuperDraft pick. Vines is 27, under contract through the season, with a club option for 2027. Functional cover. Not a like-for-like swap.
The rest of the window in brief
San Diego also moved Lewis Morgan on — to Toronto FC, in exchange for a 2026 International Roster Slot. Morgan never found his feet after arriving from the New York Red Bulls, posting zero goals and three assists in 779 minutes. That's a significant whiff on what was supposed to be a marquee signing.
His replacement is Cédric Bakambu, 35, a DR Congo international who appeared in three World Cup matches this past summer against Portugal, Colombia, and Uzbekistan. Bakambu was a free agent, which limits the risk. He's there to complement Marcus Ingvartsen up front and bring finishing experience that Morgan simply couldn't deliver.
- Elias Achouri (designated player, signed July): 2 goals in 4 matches
- Gabriel Pirani (Brazilian midfielder, signed July): 2 goals in 467 minutes
- Hirving Lozano: loaned to LA Galaxy for the remainder of the season — scored against San Diego last weekend in a 3-1 loss for his new side
- David Mimbang: 18-year-old midfielder, loaned from FC Nordsjælland through the 2027 MLS season via the Right to Dream network
Ten points from their last five matches has San Diego moving in the right direction, but eighth in the West is a precarious position. The roster looks meaningfully different from the one that started the summer — more experienced in attack, younger and thinner at left back. Whether that trade-off holds up through September and into a playoff race is the real question. They travel to Orlando on September 5 to find out.
