MLS Announces Significant Changes to Transfer Windows and Roster Regulations

For the first time in nearly two decades, excluding the COVID-affected 2020 season, Major League Soccer (MLS) will extend its summer transfer window into September. This adjustment allows MLS clubs to align more closely with top international leagues, creating enhanced opportunities for acquiring high-caliber talent during the final stretch of the season as teams prepare for the Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs.

MLS has also confirmed that FIFA has granted a special request for the league’s three Canadian teams—CF Montréal, Toronto FC, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC—to adhere to the U.S. Soccer registration periods instead of those established by Canada Soccer. This decision aims to ensure consistency across the league.

The league has highlighted the significance of recent transfer windows, noting that high-profile players such as Son Heung-min (LAFC), Rodrigo De Paul (Inter Miami CF), and Thomas Müller (Vancouver Whitecaps FC) have joined MLS during the 2025 Secondary Transfer Window. During this period, clubs successfully signed 10 Designated Players from abroad and welcomed 12 players via the U22 Initiative.

In addition to these transfer window updates, MLS has announced critical administrative dates for 2026, including the Roster Compliance deadline on February 20 and the Roster Freeze date on October 9.

Furthermore, MLS has implemented several immediate amendments to its Roster Rules and Regulations. These changes include the removal of limits on cash-for-player trades and intraleague loans, the elimination of age restrictions on loans, adjustments to domestic player designation rules, and increased flexibility for traded international roster slots. The league has also introduced new provisions for Designated Players acquired midseason and expanded eligibility for Supplemental Roster Slot 31.

Collectively, these changes represent one of the most flexible roster-building frameworks MLS has enacted, underscoring the league’s ongoing commitment to compete more aggressively in the global transfer market.

**Full Roster Regulations Updates**

– The league has removed all limits on the number of Cash-for-Player Trades a club may complete during a single season.
– MLS has eliminated both age restrictions and caps on the number of intraleague loans that teams can execute each year.
– The deadline for a player to be classified as a domestic player rather than an international has been removed.
– Clubs may now agree to trade an International Roster Slot with the condition that it returns to the original club on a predetermined date during the Secondary Transfer Window. All such agreements must be definitive.
– Designated Players acquired via Cash-for-Player Trades during the Secondary Transfer Window may be registered using the midseason Designated Player Salary Budget Charge.
– Players who have appeared on a gameday roster are now eligible to be placed in Supplemental Roster Slot 31, provided they meet all other requirements for that slot.