The most obvious need for the Whitecaps’ roster, as it stands, is players who can play in a front three. They also have filled all of their DP slots, all of their U-22 initiative slots (at least until Caicedo is sold), and all of their international slots (although they could trade for more of those or open up a slot by moving someone). So an obvious profile would be domestic players who would not be DPs or require a U-22 slot but could be counted on to have an impact in MLS. That sort of player isn’t very common, in fact I think this article has a pretty good list of all of them.

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This article is not going to focus on players who are attacking midfielders or could play off a centre-forward. It would probably be a good idea to sign a reliable back-up to Brian White but I’m not 100% sure the Whitecaps will buy out Damir Kreilach (though that would also be a good idea). Out and out centre-forwards may be considered separately in a future article. That said, forward positions can be a little fluid so some centre-forwards have been considered if there is reason to believe they could play alongside a pure centre-forward like White. My measuring stick for this is if they have played a significant percentage of their professional appearances in a position other than centre-forward or if they have demonstrated the ability to do some passing and/or dribbling.

Jonathon Lewis/27/USA

A really obvious free agent target for the Whitecaps is Jonathon Lewis. Lewis has had two difficult seasons in a row. In 2023, on a terrible Colorado team, his production cratered. In 2024 his per 90 production recovered but for some reason he didn’t play very much. Still, before that Lewis had several seasons in a row of being a very strong attacking player who dribbles into the box and gets good shots. He was on a very reasonable 435k last season and isn’t exactly negotiating from a position of strength at the moment.

Jules-Anthony Vilsaint/21/Canada

Jules-Anthony Vilsaint only played 840 minutes for Montreal last season and was often left out of the match-day squad all together. Doesn’t seem all that appealing at first glance, but when you take a closer look at those 840 minutes this looks like a player who’s ready to explode. According to American Soccer Analysis, Vilsaint had the second best xG+xA/90 of any domestic player in the league (only fellow Canadian Tani Oluwayesi was better).

That might not hold up over a bigger sample size but you also have to take into account that he was playing for Montreal who were mostly not good. Vilsaint also brings two things the Whitecaps didn’t have in their attack last year. He’s big (variously listed between 6’1 and 6’3) and he’s also a volume shooter. You don’t always want someone who is going to let fly at the first sight of goal but someone willing to have a go could give the Whitecaps a bit of a different look and potentially draw defences out of a low-block.

He was on a supplemental deal last season, making just 96k, and the Whitecaps have no more supplemental spots. But maybe acquiring Vilsaint in a trade gives you the room to give Ali Ahmed a new deal that keeps him in Vancouver long-term or strengthens their negotiating position for a potential sale. Vilsaint would have to be acquired via trade but Montreal is the club that traded Kamal Miller and stack of cash for Bryce Duke and Ariel Lassiter. It is possible to rip these guys off!

Stephen Afrifa/23/Canada

Another young Canadian who impressed in limited minutes last season was Stephen Afrifa. Afrifa’s end product is not quite as good as Vilsaint’s but everything leading up to that looks immaculate. Afrifa’s dribbling stats are amongst the best outside the top-5 leagues in the world. He shoots a lot though not from the best locations. Like Vilsaint, Afrifa was on a supplemental roster spot last season so the Whitecaps would have to move someone out or give someone (probably Ali Ahmed) a new contract to create space. SKC does not have the same recent history of getting ripped off in trades as Montreal but he should still be get-able.

Ray Serrano/22/USA

Serrano is a player I have had my eye on for a while. He had a bit of a breakout in terms of underlying data last season, playing for Louisville in USL. He’s not the best dribbler but he’s a consistent producer of high quality shots for himself and others. A decent rule of thumb for the drop in production when moving from USL to MLS is to knock off about a 3rd. This would put Serrano at around 0.4 xG+xA/90 which is low end starter to high end backup sort of stuff. I probably wouldn’t want him to be the main addition but he could be a good low-cost option to free up space for a bigger acquisition in the forward line.

Kahveh Zahiroleslam/21/USA

Kaveh Zahiroleslam decided to forgo the MLS draft in order to sign directly with Sint-Truiden in the Belgian first tier. In a season and a half there he has produced slightly above average results on a team that has mostly been battling relegation. Zahiroleslam is a striker but he does a lot of attacking midfielder stuff. He rates very highly in progressive carries and penalty box entries. You would need to pay a transfer fee for him, and as such you would need to get a bit creative with accounting to get him in under the DP threshold. But if his Transfermakrt value is accurate (never a given) and with a long enough contract it could be possible.

Charles-Andreas Brym/26/Canada

Brym will be familiar to most Canadian football fans as he has 13 caps for the Canadian national team. He currently plays for Sparta Rotterdam in the Eredivisie. Like Zahiroleslam, he’s a striker who does a lot of attacking midfielder stuff and has produced average results on a not very good team. Being 26, you also don’t have to pay a huge premium for potential, which is good when you need to win now and squeeze players in under the DP threshold. He’s also been a bit out of favour this season, which should further drive down the price. There’s some disagreement between the Fbref data and Wyscout data on Brym’s xG output but both data sources agree that he moves the ball well. If the Whitecaps did sign him, they would obviously be hoping that playing with Gauld and Armstrong would boost his end-product (Which it certainly could).

(Image Credit: 1642 MTL)