Reports: San Diego FC acquires Scottish winger

San Diego FC reportedly is finalizing a deal to acquire 29-year-old Scottish forward Lewis Morgan from fellow Major League Soccer club New York Red Bulls in a move that could bolster the central striker position or, possibly, signal the departure of left wing Hirving “Chucky” Lozano.

The trade is expected to include an SDFC pick in Thursday’s college SuperDraft as well as $400,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM). The Red Bulls also are believed to be absorbing some of Morgan’s salary that was $1.5 million last season.

In exchange, SDFC is getting a high-salaried player on an expiring contract who has shown the ability to score and create goals … when he is healthy.

Lewis missed nearly all of the 2023 season with injury, then was named MLS comeback player of the year in 2024 after scoring 13 goals and helping lead the Red Bulls to MLS Cup. Then knee and quadriceps injuries limited him to just three appearances last season.

If he plays through the middle of a front three, SDFC would be replacing one injured striker with another. Denmark’s Marcus Ingvartsen had just five starts and eight total appearances last season after multiple leg issues.

SDFC signed forward Corey Baird from FC Cincinnati in August and started him in the playoffs, but he is out of contract and eligible for MLS free agency.

Morgan’s most common – and some say most effective – position is as a left winger, however. That’s where Lozano plays. So does recently re-signed Amahl Pellegrino, the 35-year-old who replaced Lozano in SDFC’s starting lineup for the MLS playoffs.

Lozano’s status with the club has remained uncertain since an Oct. 4 locker room incident after being subbed at halftime of the penultimate regular-season game at Houston. He did not suit up for the next two, then was relegated to the bench for the final four playoff games, including the 3-1 loss to Vancouver in the Western Conference final.

Lozano has since said “my mentality” is to stay at SDFC, where he is under contract through 2028. But he also has expressed a strong desire to play in the 2026 World Cup, something he likely can’t do as a non-starter in a league from which only a handful of players have ever made Mexico’s roster.

The acquisition of Morgan gives coach Mikey Varas two proven options at left wing.

Morgan spent most of his career in Scotland with St. Mirren and Celtic before a 2019 loan to Sunderland, which at the time played in League One, or England’s third tier of soccer. The following year, Celtic sold him to MLS expansion franchise Inter Miami for an estimated $500,000 transfer fee.

After seven goals in 57 appearances over two seasons in Miami, he was traded to the Red Bulls. In 2022 and 2024, when healthy, he had a combined 27 goals and 11 assists in 61 appearances. In 2023 and 2025, he had no goals and no assists in eight appearances.

Morgan fits the formula of player acquisitions by SDFC sporting director Tyler Heaps: either young, unproven talent or aging veterans on expiring contracts who pose little long-term salary cap risk.

Baird and Pellegrino both fit that mold, as does Morgan, whose MLS contract is up after 2026 but has club options for 2027 and 2028.

“We were looking for low-risk, high-reward players,” Heaps recently said of Baird and Pellegrino, both added during the August transfer window. “Sometimes in this league, that’s players on high contracts that aren’t producing. You look for players who aren’t playing consistently but have had success in MLS in the past.”

SDFC had room to add a seven-figure salary with the decision not to exercise the purchase option on the loan with Spanish club Celta de Vigo for midfielder Luca de la Torre, who made $1.5 million last season