Charlotte FC's Spring 2025 Roster Profile Breakdown
By Brian Maurer
Last week, MLS released the Spring 2025 Roster Profiles for every club in the league. Our friend, Caleb Adams, gave a bullet-point breakdown of what Charlotte FC's roster looks like and how it can evolve going into the summer.
Following up on that here is a deep dive into how Charlotte's roster compares to the rest of the Eastern Conference and what actions will need to be taken as the 2025 season progresses:
U22 Initiative Model
As Adams points out, Charlotte FC's roster, with two Designated Players and three U22 Initiative slots filled, allows them flexibility, as they can currently activate the U22 Initiative Model as their roster construction path.
In the summer, Charlotte will be able to add a DP or a U22 Initiative Player to finish filling out their roster. If Charlotte elects to sign a DP that would likely be the one major move they make. If the Crown elects to keep the U22 Initiative Model they will likely also be able to make another move if they shift some pieces around to bring another TAM-level player with the extra GAM that the U22 Initiative Model provides.
The likely scenario, given that Charlotte is in win-now mode is that they push for a third DP. The caveat is whether Pep Biel would need to be a DP if his purchase option is exercised. There is no confirmation on how flexible his contract is after the loan expires in the summer.
TAM-Level
Charlotte FC has right around the average number of TAM-level players on their roster as the rest of the Eastern Conference. The average number of actively available TAM players in the EC is 5.67. Charlotte has six.
This means that Charlotte is keeping pace with the top-end spending on their roster compared to the conference competition. An added benefit as things stand for Charlotte is that all six of their TAM players are a part of their starting lineup. Once you add their two DPs, Wilfried Zaha and Liel Abada, eight of Charlotte's starting eleven are the highest-cost players on the roster.
This is a good thing as it means their money spent looks like it will ratio more evenly with minutes played.
Roster decisions
Charlotte FC has 14 players who have contracts expiring before the 2026 season. The players at the top-end of the roster like Zaha and Biel are a bit easier to see the path forward than the others. If Zaha leads this team with plenty of goal contributions and helps them push for trophies and the top four in the East this year the club will aim to keep him longer term. If Biel is tracking at around double-digit goal contributions by his loan expiration he will likely be looked at longer term.
Patrick Agyemang, Brandt Bronico, Djibril Diani, and Bill Tuiloma are all on the senior roster and are all on expiring contracts with an option year for 2026. Ben Bender and Eryk Williamson are both on the senior roster with expiring contracts and no options remaining on their current deals.
Depending on how the season plays out that is four central midfielders on the senior roster on expiring contracts. This could lead to a bit of a shake-up in the middle for 2026. This also could give an opportunity to young prospects like Aron John next season if he performs well again for Crown Legacy FC in 2025.
The other big focus here is Agyemang's contract situation which will likely be an ongoing saga until a deal is reached or a godfather offer comes in for him.
Charlotte will need to make decisions about two of their backup goalkeepers as David Bingham and George Marks are on expiring contracts with no option years left. They have additional goalkeeper depth in Chituru Odunze and Nick Holliday so there isn't much urgency in making a decision here.
The more interesting decisions on the supplemental roster are Brandon Cambridge, Jahlane Forbes, Tyger Smalls, and Nick Scardina. They all have options left on their contracts but so the club has time to make a decision, but can any of them earn themselves new contracts and find a way to push themselves onto the senior roster? This will likely be the goal for these young prospects.
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