San Diego's Novel Talent Pipeline

How an unorthodox approach helps MLS's newest team avoid a common pitfall

Bryan Zamblé officially signed with San Diego on Thursday, February 19th, 2026. On Saturday, February 21st, he scored his first goal for the team. That’s not too unusual for a new signing, but it is unusual for an 18 year older international transfer with no prior first team professional experience.

While his talent was evident to those keeping a close eye on African football, to most MLS fans, Zamblé came out of nowhere. His path to the first team is an interesting window into how San Diego has positioned themselves in a unique space in MLS.

The Expansion Trap

Expansion teams in MLS always have initial advantages. Along with bountiful cap space and no bad contracts they also get bonus GAM - essentially extra cap space - to build their roster with a specific vision in mind. Sometimes that goes well, and sometimes teams stumble out of the gate, but MLS still gives them a boost right at the beginning to make the transition easier.

The problem for many of these expansion teams comes later. Since most teams have to build an academy from scratch, it becomes very difficult to establish quality depth at cheap prices. Simply put, there isn’t a pipeline in place (and might not be for years). This is evident when you look at expansion teams even years after their initial season. The best teams in MLS have academy systems that create healthy developmental environments for young players who can then become cheap, effective MLS Squad depth. Many expansion teams start their academies from scratch. At best, they can grab all the talented prospects that exist already in the region and create new academy age groups. Even then there are problems with that approach; players and coaches may not want to leave, or the talent that exists might not fit the game model. For expansion teams, good young players are hard to find.

Without academies producing the players who soak up minutes and fill in the roster, teams have to spend money to acquire those players. They might not fit as naturally into the system, or might not have been first choice for where they came from. Once the expansion GAM runs out, many teams find themselves in a tight spot with the lower half of the roster. Here’s an illustration

:

Expansion teams going back to 2020 (St Louis, Charlotte, Miami, Nashville, and Austin) had serious issues with squad depth in 2025. Overall, U26 players making less than 500K per year played just short of 273K minutes last season. The last 5 expansion teams accounted for just 12% of those minutes, well short of the 20% that would be expected. These teams are therefore more top heavy, with minutes going to older and more expensive players. On top of that, there were only 4 players from those teams to play 1000 minutes and to have entered the professional ranks from an MLS academy - not even their team’s academy. For the rest of MLS, there were 36 players who met that description. Essentially, these expansion teams were half as likely to have a reliable academy product on the roster.

San Diego could easily have the same problem. Not only is their academy newly established, but they’re building it more slowly than any other expansion team. They are adding age groups one year at a time, starting with the 2013-2014 birth year. Realistically these players are still 5 or more years away from having a first team impact. They don’t even have an MLS Next Pro team to develop their young talent further and allow them to task more risks in signing.

To avoid the bare cupboard that affects expansion teams, San Diego FC have taken a couple novel approaches.

Approach 1: A New Team Building Paradigm

The first approach was the boldest; by signing Mikey Varas and making a run on US Youth National team players, San Diego essentially filled every step of the pipeline to ensure there would be no drop off. Some young players, like Luca Bombino, came in ready to start. Some, like Pedro Soma, needed a little more time. Regardless, San Diego has players up and down the system who can add depth when needed.

In order to do this San Diego had to take significant risks. Youth players are always a gamble. Many cannot adjust immediately to the MLS level of play. Hiring Varas meant that they had a subject matter expert, but as a first time manager there was a chance he couldn’t make the leap as well. Prior US Youth National Team managers could not make the successful transition to MLS, such as Tab Ramos with the Houston Dynamo.

It seems obvious in retrospect but there were many questions about this roster build heading into 2025. The entire MLS staff predicted them to finish dead last that year. It’s a testament to how well it has gone that it has already inspired a copycat. The New England Revolution hired Marko Mitrovic as their head coach entering 2026, and started acquiring known youth talent like Griffin Yow to kickstart a similar rebuild. Unfortunately for New England, they don’t have Tyler Heaps or some of the other advantages San Diego has.

Approach 2: Global Academy

The other facet that can prop up San Diego in its first few years is the global reach of the Right to Dream academy. Right to Dream started as a small academy in Ghana in 1999. Since then, it has received the financial backing of Egypt’s Mansour Group, and acquired multiple clubs - including FC Nordjaelland and a major share in San Diego FC.

Right to Dream has been producing some of the best talent from Africa for decades. Many go on to play professionally; along with global standouts like Simon Adingra or Kamaldeen Suleimana, there are a number of current MLS players from RTD. They have an intense academic focus that also leads to many RTD players becoming NCAA athletes, or even playing for American prep high schools. Their story has been one of remarkable success, trading on trust and integrity as they navigate a sometimes difficult developmental environment. While many clubs desire to exploit African talent, RTD has consistently tried to support that talent and do right by then.

While San Diego is working on their academy in their backyard, they have access to a level of talent that few MLS teams can reach. Zamble is the first to make the direct jump from the Right to Dream academy, but he certainly won’t be the last. San Diego will have a pipeline of some of the best players on an entire continent ready to make the leap to their first team. What other club could possibly claim that?

The Model Franchise

San Diego has done well so far, and the foundation seems solid for their success to continue. For every risk they’ve taken, they’ve managed to find a creative way to make it work. General Manager Tyler Heaps and Varas seem to have an inherent understanding of which players to add to their system, and how to get the most out of them. Even things that seem objectively unwise, like opting out of an MLS Next Pro reserve team, have not come back to hurt the team.

With a favorable schedule and a strong roster San Diego could be one of the best representatives of MLS in 2026. They have the chance to win multiple trophies, and do it with an exciting brand of attacking high-possession soccer. With the advantages they’ve built, this could be a team for the ages.