Wishcasting one *realistic* World Cup signing for each MLS team

Before we jump in, let me just put out there for the record: It is insane that MLS did not adjust their roster rules to better take advantage of the World Cup. And by "adjust their roster rules" I don't mean just adding more DP slots to get more true stars here, but creating more cap room (or – *sigh* – GAM-like financial devices that essentially function as extra cap-room) to sign sub-DP talents. I'm talking about guys who would strengthen MLS rosters, improve the quality of the league, and tie it more tightly to the month-long phenomenon that's set all kinds of viewership and attendance records. They had eight years to prep for this!

Combined with the lack of marketing and it's just a baffling missed opportunity.

Ok, that's off my chest.

The transfer window opened today and we just got the treat of seeing a bunch of the world's best players here, in person, for the past month. That means it's time to do some shopping.

Now, as a rule, if you're making decisions for a team – any team, not just an MLS side – you absolutely should not over-index on performance in an international tournament. Doing that is how you end up spending a lot of cash and an international roster slot on Raïs M'Bolhi. Deciding to buy a player primarily because they were great at the World Cup or Copa América tends to lead to bad business.

But we're not running a club, so we don't have to worry about that. All we have to do is play wishcasting matchmaker. And thus we have 30 realistic* MLS homes for 30 guys we just saw play at the World Cup.

(*) To determine if a potential signing is realistic I used a combination of open DP slots, market size, and – this is like 90% of it – a given ownership group's overall spending power and history of being willing to leverage it. i.e., Philly fans are gonna scroll down to their section and say "who????"

Sucks, but that's how they do business.

In we go:

Atlanta United: Weston McKennie

I broke my own rule by putting a fourth DP onto a roster that already has three DP slots filled, but we all kind of feel like at least one of Atlanta's underwhelming trio is going to hit the exit this summer, right?

If/when that happens, let's hope it's McKennie who's inbound. He was phenomenal through four games for the US, and is in the prime of his career, so he's a fit in that sense. But he's also a fit in the sense that, in order to become the best version of himself, he needs to be handed the keys to a club midfield. And he will simply never get that for a Juventus team that is always hiring new managers, and always requiring Wes to prove himself all over again, and always deciding he's best as a utility-man.

Put him in Atlanta as a No. 8, run the game through him and I think he'll ascend.

This would require a few huge checks from Uncle Arthur (one to buy out an already-rostered DP; one to pay a transfer fee for a guy who just got a contract extension; and one for that guy's contract), but no owner in the history of this league has been more committed to writing huge checks.

Note that MLS should also make it possible for Atlanta (or anyone) to sign Matías Galarza on a non-DP deal. Something as simple as decoupling transfer fees from salary cap hit would likely be enough.