The Vancouver Whitecaps‘ last match of the 2024 MLS season was on Nov. 8, when they bowed out of the MLS Cup Playoffs in Round One against LAFC. The off-season and preparation for 2025 began the next day.
The deadline for clubs to exercise options or submit bona fide offers to out-of-contract players is Nov. 27 at 1 p.m. ET. With the number of players on the Whitecaps who fall into this category, CEO and sporting director Axel Schuster and the rest of his management, recruiting and scouting staff will be busy.
In this article, I take a look at what players have contracts set to expire, whether they have a club option or not and whether the Whitecaps should consider keeping them or saying farewell.
There are quite a few, so let’s get started.
Yohei Takaoka
Base Salary: $672,000
Senior (TAM) contract
International roster spot
Club option: 2025
Takaoka is an interesting case study. The simple math is that he let in two more goals than last season (45 in 2023; 47 in 2024) and as a result, his GA over 90 minutes took a bit of a hit (1.36 in 2023; 1.42 in 2024). Of goalkeepers who have played at least 20 matches in the 2024 MLS season, Takaoka ranks 14th in GA over 90, basically middle of the pack.
However, Takaoka moves up the MLS goalkeeper rankings when taking into consideration the type of saves he was called on to make. In this, the Whitecaps goalkeeper improves. His expected goals minus actual goals against (xG-GA) is a net positive of 2.7. While not having a large margin, Takaoka performs better than expected. It is also enough to put him in the top 10 of MLS goalkeepers who have played 20 or more matches.
The goalkeeper pool in MLS in terms of who is potentially available is small. A couple of interesting choices exist for goalkeepers out-of-contract at the end of 2024, but they are either a project (Real Salt Lake’s Gavin Beavers), aging (LAFC’s Hugo Lloris) or simply not happening (Minnesota United’s Dayne St. Clair). Everyone else available is a pass.
The Whitecaps could look to the rest of the world as they did when they brought in Takaoka. Again, it’s not a bountiful landscape.
In addition, when Takaoka was asked about the club option in his contract during the Whitecaps end-of-season press conference, he said he has already held discussions over it being enacted.
Takaoka is staying and should for now.
Isaac Boehmer
Base Salary: $89,716
Supplemental (25-28 slot) contract
Homegrown player
Club option: 2025
Boehmer has shown consistent growth over his time with the Whitecaps. This season, he was the hero of the Canadian Championship. He played every match of the competition, and in the final against Toronto FC, he saved a Federico Bernardeschi penalty in regular time and denied Kosi Thompson in the shootout.
Boehmer’s play also earned him the Best Young Canadian Player of the tournament and the George Gross Trophy for MVP.
It’s written on the wall that Boehmer is the Whitecaps’ goalkeeper of the future, but is that future in 2025?
“If things stay the same, if Yohei is here and Isaac is here, I don’t think we’re going to have a number one and two,” Sartini said at the end-of-season media conference. “I think we have a number one and one-and-a-half.”
There is no doubt about Boehmer’s athleticism and shot-stopping ability. However, questions remain about his distribution and ability to play with his feet. Throughout the Canadian Championship, much of his distribution was handled by his centre-backs, particularly Tristan Blackmon.
Given the importance of Sartini’s system of playing out the back, there is still some growth needed in Boehmer’s game. It will come, and exercising the club option should be considered a no-brainer.
Joe Bendik
Base Salary: $108,000
Senior contract
Club option: 2025
Bendik has not played a game for the Whitecaps in MLS. He’s the third ‘keeper on the roster, so that is understandable. But the Whitecaps are beyond the point of needing a third-string goalkeeper with experience.
Max Anchor is capable of being the third goalkeeper as necessary. There are also rumours that the Whitecaps (amongst others) are also interested in the services of Pacific FC’s goalkeeper, Emil Gazdov, which would further bolster this position.
Bendik’s option should be declined.
Alessandro Schöpf
Base Salary: $900,000
TAM contract
International roster spot
Club option: 2025
Schöpf…
Schöpf is a difficult player to wrap one’s head around. The job he has within the squad is one that can often be overlooked. He links up play. Fans tend to notice goals and assists within offensive play, but the “pass-before-the-pass” does not necessarily stick in one’s mind.
But the question has to be asked whether Schöpf does even that well. Let’s compare him in regards to passing with Héctor Herrera (most recently with Houston Dynamo). Schöpf has a better pass completion rate (89.2 per cent to Herrera’s 87.7 per cent). Sounds good, right?
Yet, when we go deeper into the type of pass being completed by these midfielders, we see that Schöpf’s passing in MLS accounted for 3.78 progressive yards per completed pass. In comparison, Herrera registered 5.96. For a Canadian example, Toronto FC’s Jonathan Osorio was higher than Schöpf at 4.10 progressive yards per completed pass.
In terms of linking play (or moving the ball forward), he’s okay but not a standout. In fact, he’s better in progressive carries than he is with progressive passing.
In terms of defensive ability, it gets truly shocking. Schöpf is in the bottom 10 per cent of all midfielders in MLS for tackles and is poor in interceptions, clearances and duels over 90 minutes.
We can also take a look at American Soccer Analysis’ goals added (g+) stat. This is a measure of a player’s on-ball contribution (taking into account dribbling, fouling, interrupting, passing, receiving and shooting) of the game. Schöpf is a disappointing -0.76 g+.
And the biggest contribution to this? Schöpf’s passing was a whopping -1.00. Not great for a supposed link-up man.
Armed with this information, this is the priority position that the Whitecaps should target this off-season. At $900K a season (and taking an international roster spot), there are better options out there.
Schöpf’s time as a Whitecaps should be done.
Fafà Picault
Base Salary: $650,000
Club option: 2025
At 33 years old, Fafà had one of his best seasons in terms of goal contributions. He posted nine goals and five assists in MLS play. His only better season was with Houston in 2021 where he had 15 goal contributions (11g, 4a).
And yet, he missed out on an automatic clause by a single point in over MLS regular season play. He did not register a point in his last four matches of the regular season.
But there is no discounting the importance of his overall contribution, especially once the summer started.
“There’s no question that Fafa’s been a very important player,” Sartini said. “If he stays, he’s going to be a very important player next year.”
Fafà is a good contract to pick up for another year, but that may not mean he plays with the Whitecaps. He is a player where listening to offers may not be a bad idea.
The club should exercise the option, but they should also keep their options open if something comes across their desk.
Ralph Priso-Mbongue
Base Salary: $125,000
Homegrown player
Club option: 2025, 2026
How does one evaluate a player who has only 479 minutes across 14 matches? It’s not that Priso is unable to contribute; he hasn’t been given a fair opportunity to contribute.
Let’s go back to American Soccer Analysis as we did for Schöpf. Priso is a value-added +0.21 in interrupting but is marginally negative in all other stats.
Utilized as a no. 6, he is alright. And he is about third on the Whitecaps depth chart for that position anyway.
I would take the option. He came in March 2024 and has not had a full season. At 22 years old, is too young to pass by yet.
Levonte Johnson
Base Salary: $89,716
Club option: 2025
Johnson has an upside. He’s fast and can carry the ball. The common refrain against him is that he is not a very technical player. And it is true; his game is fairly one-note.
But is he good value for the way he is utilized and the contract he has? This is actually a difficult question.
Johnson makes the league salary minimum. And in the past couple of months, he moved above Damir Kreilach on the striker depth chart, getting match time in four games in October. One of those was also a start against LAFC on Oct. 27, the match where the Whitecaps were missing a bunch of players on international duty.
And yet, the production (the main yardstick by which strikers are measured) is simply not there. He has no goals or assists in MLS play. He had over triple the number of minutes this season (669 minutes) as opposed to last season (201 minutes), and he could not contribute in the manner fans would hope.
But does he contribute how his coaches want? If he is the guy to put on to finish games out, fine. He can help shut down a game (so long as the Whitecaps are not chasing late). But that’s not always how he is used. Johnson has increasingly been called on to start (seven starts in 25 appearances this season).
Starters must perform. And with Johnson turning 26 years old in the early part of next season, his time to show what he can do may be over.
The writing may also be on the wall with Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau signing a first-team contract in September.
There will be some who will want Johnson to remain another year because they see the potential in yet another one getting away from the Whitecaps if he ends up performing elsewhere.
For player and club that is not necessarily a bad thing. It has not worked here. Let the player find himself elsewhere, and if he does, be happy that he did.
Ryan Raposo
Base Salary: $150,000
Raposo had his best season as a Whitecap this past season. At a total of seven goal contributions in MLS (3g, 4a), he more than doubled his previous best.
In terms of an attacking fullback, there is no one better on the Whitecaps. Raposo ranks in the top 4 per cent of MLS fullbacks for goals and top 6 per cent for assists. He is similarly ranked when compared to midfielders (depending on how Sartini played him this season), although he drops slightly in goal percentile, which is understandable.
Raposo is one of the best on the Whitecaps for getting the ball into the opponent’s 18-yard box. However, defensively he struggles. He is capable of interceptions but lacks in tackling. And in aerial duels, well…let’s say his size doesn’t help.
In a back-3 system (Sartini’s favourite even though he got away from it towards the end of the season), Raposo is pushing for a starting XI spot as a wingback. When he doesn’t have to focus as much on defensive duties and can simply be a danger on the flanks, he excels. But when tactics dictate a shift to a back 4, he can get a bit lost in the shuffle.
But Raposo is a player that continually shows growth in his game. And for that, he’s been rewarded with more game time, something which he has handled well.
Raposo is the only player without a current club option. Schuster will need to negotiate an entirely new contract. If he can be signed for a reasonable amount, he should be.
What is reasonable, you may ask? Put it this way: Luís Martins was making $300K before his contract was mutually ended. Raposo’s contributions were significantly better and even his defensive stats for the past season per 90 minutes were better than the Portuguese player.
Anything up to what Martins was making would be good for the club and a significant boost for the player.
