San Diego FC adds second designated player to roster – elcajon newson Elcajon News only

San Diego FC made a big splash with its first designated player, signing Mexican left winger Hirving “Chucky” Lozano from Dutch power PSV Eindhoven.

Its second DP, which doesn’t count against Major League Soccer’s salary cap, is less known in these parts: Danish right winger Anders Dreyer.

According to multiple reports from Europe, Anderlecht of Belgium’s Jupiler Pro League has agreed to transfer the 26-year-old winger to the MLS expansion franchise for fees totalling $5.7 million.

That’s roughly the amount that SDFC reportedly bid for 28-year-old Oleksandr Lubkov of Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk before those talks fell apart earlier this week. SDFC also was linked to Polish attacking midfielder Mateusz Bogusz of fellow MLS club LAFC, but he apparently is headed to Mexican club Cruz Azul.

Het Laatste Nieuws, a Dutch-language newspaper in Antwerp, Belgium, reported that Dreyer won’t be with Anderlecht for its game Sunday at Kortrijk, instead returning home to Denmark to complete medical tests before flying to San Diego. SDFC opened training camp on Monday.

Dreyer is expected to sign a three-year contract that Danish website Tipsbladet estimates will be worth $7 million and make him MLS’s highest-paid Danish player.

Dreyer grew up in Denmark before signing with English club Brighton as a 20-year-old. Brighton loaned him to clubs in Scotland and the Netherlands before selling him to Denmark’s FC Midtjylland in 2020. He also spent time with Russia’s Rubin Kazan, where he became the first player in league history to score a hat trick in his first game, before Anderlecht bought him for $4.3 million. He has three caps with Denmark’s senior national team.

Dreyer’s production dropped this season for Anderlecht, with three goals and six assists in 18 appearances, after ranking second in the league in total goals at 19 in 2023-24.

“This year it was all a bit less,” HLN wrote. “That is why Anderlecht decided to cooperate (with transfer offers).”

But he fills a desperate need for SDFC as its inaugural season rapidly approaches. It had Lozano on the left and 6-foot-1 Danish striker Marcus Ingvartsen in the middle but a hole on the right.

That leaves central midfield remaining on Sporting Director Tyler Heaps’ wish list, although help could be on the way.

There are reports SDFC is finalizing a loan agreement with Spanish club Celta de Vigo for 26-year-old midfielder Luca de la Torre, a U.S. national team regular and member of the 2022 World Cup team who grew up in San Diego. De la Torre has fallen out of favor with Celta de Vigo, appearing just twice in 2024-25 for a total of 30 minutes (partly due to an ankle injury) after playing 65 times over the previous two seasons.

Earlier in the week, SDFC announced it has added Finnish midfielder Onni Valakari on loan from Cyprus club Pafos FC.