Run it back: SDFC makes roster decisions for 2026 season, re-signs late-season star

A week after saying “we won’t see a ton of turnover,” San Diego FC sporting director Tyler Heaps backed up his words with the club’s annual announcement of roster decisions.

Almost everyone is back.

SDFC has 26 players under contract for 2026 after exercising five player options and re-signing a sixth, leaving only a few spots for new additions to a roster that finished first in the Western Conference and came a game from advancing to MLS Cup in its inaugural season.

The biggest moves: re-signing forward Amahl Pellegrino and declining the purchase option on the loan for midfielder and local product Luca de la Torre.

The 35-year-old Pellegrino was acquired from San Jose on an expiring contract just before the close of the summer transfer window and went from not being in game-day rosters for the Earthquakes to starting every playoff game for SDFC at left wing, relegating Mexican star Hirving “Chucky” Lozano to the bench.

What his return means for Lozano’s future remains unclear. Lozano told media last week that “my mentality is to be here” next season despite a disciplinary incident in October and fallout with coach Mikey Varas, heightening speculation that he might leave the club, at least temporarily, to enhance his prospects of making Mexico’s World Cup roster.

Asked last week how a return by Pellegrino might influence Lozano’s status, Heaps said: “We don’t look at Amahl as that’s his only position. … I think he showed this year that he has the quality but he can also fit within what we’re trying to do.”

Pellegrino initially played as a central striker alongside Lozano but had little success until he moved onto the left wing after Lozano’s locker room tantrum, scoring six goals in six games.

The 27-year-old de la Torre started 24 of SDFC’s first 26 games, then fell out of favor and came off the bench for the final eight. He also went from starting all six games for the U.S. national team in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in June and July to completely out of the picture by fall.

The loan with Celta de Vigo contained an SDFC option to purchase him permanently. SDFC passed, meaning he returns to Spain for the final six months of his contract.

“It was a great season, I loved it,” de la Torre said last week. “It’s such a great setup here, the way the club’s run. The coaching staff, the players, the staff around the club, it was such a pleasure to be a part of. Also, the games and the atmosphere in the stadium, the run we went on and all the games we won, it was special.

“It’s something I’m going to remember forever.”

One reason de la Torre was expendable is 26-year-old Finnish midfielder Onni Valakari, who became a regular starter down the stretch and provided versatility at several positions. SDFC exercised its permanent transfer option from Cyprus club Palos FC that keeps him here through 2028 with a club option for 2029.

The club exercised contract options on midfielder Aníbal Godoy, rookie defender Ian Pilcher and backup goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega. It also triggered a permanent trade option on the loan deal for midfielder David Vazquez, sending the Philadelphia Union $250,000 plus up to an additional $250,000 if certain performance metrics are met.

That leaves three players headed to the MLS re-entry or free agency process: Emmanuel Boateng, Corey Baird and Franco Negri.

A club release said SDFC “remains in talks to retain Boateng and Baird.” Though he played sparingly, Boateng has value as a graduate of the Right to Dream academy in Ghana. An Escondido native, Baird started at forward during the playoffs after a summer transfer from FC Cincinnati.

The only other player in limbo is outside back Aiden Harangi, whose loan deal from German club Eintracht Frankfurt expires this month.

“We’re trying to make something sustainable, where you don’t have to blow it up every couple years,” Varas said. “That’s really important. And we really believe in the power that we can be much greater than the sum of our parts … where our one plus one equals more than everybody else’s one plus one.”

Cup draw

Welcome to the CONCACAF Champions Cup. SDFC got a brutal draw Tuesday in the 27-team tournament to crown a regional club champion, getting Mexico’s Pumas UNAM in the two-leg opening round and, if it survives that, Toluca in the round of 16.

That means altitude. Pumas’ Estadio Olimpico, site of the 1968 Summer Olympics, sits at 7,350 feet. Toluca’s Estadio Nemesio Diez is even higher, at 8,750 feet. The highest MLS venue, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo., is about 5,200 feet above sea level.

Pumas finished fourth and 10th in the most recent split seasons of Liga MX. Toluca was first and second.

SDFC opens training camp in a month, earlier than most MLS clubs because both home and away legs of the Pumas series are scheduled before the league season begins Feb. 21.