NASHVILLE, TN – Nashville SC announced their end-of-year roster decisions on Monday. 10 players will depart the club, including club captain Walker Zimmerman and stalwart goalkeeper Joe Willis.
Ben Wright
The moves leave Nashville with 22 players under contract. They likely won't be the final departures this winter, with the potential for Nashville to trade others as they continue to overhaul their squad in a bid to compete for MLS Cup in a top-heavy Eastern Conference.
With the roster set heading into the start of the transfer window, we're taking a quick look at the biggest needs for Nashville SC. Let's dive in.
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Where the squad stands
Before we get started, let's take a look at how Nashville's squad looks today.
Nashville now have two Designated Players on the roster, Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge. General Manager and President of Soccer Operations Mike Jacobs could look to add a third DP, or he could choose to switch to the other roster building model allowed by the league, signing just two DPs but able to sign an additional U22 Initiative player. Under this model, clubs are allowed to spend an additional $2 million of General Allocation Money, giving them more ammunition for trades and extra flexibility within the cap, allowing them to keep their rosters together.
If Nashville were to switch to the 2+4+2 model, they could switch to a three DP model in the summer window as long as they haven't spent more than $1 million of their additional $2 million of GAM. This gives them the potential to sign a third DP in the summer window should the right move materialize, or sign a fourth U22 Initiative signing.
