St. Louis City SC loses midfielder Hosei Kijima in expansion draft

St. Louis City SC experienced the MLS expansion draft from the other side on Wednesday as San Diego FC claimed midfielder Hosei Kijima off its roster.

Kijima had been City SC’s first-round pick in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft, taken with the 17th overall pick out of Wake Forest, and got more playing time than might have been expected during the team’s midseason injury crunch. He appeared in 18 MLS games for City SC and started eight. He also started one CONCACAF Champions Cup game and scored the game-winning goal in the other against Houston. He is considered an up-and-coming talent who is a passionate student of the game and can play multiple positions.

Kijima won’t play for San Diego though. After being drafted, he was traded to D.C. United for $400,000 of allocation money.

“It was an honor to step on the field and play for St. Louis City,” Kijima posted on Instagram. “I will never forget STL with the great atmosphere, great culture, and most importantly, great people. Though I may no longer wear the same kit, there will always be a special place in my heart for this community.”

Kijima played either attacking or defensive midfielder for City SC, both positions where City SC has some depth. After the summer transfer window, when City SC got healthy and saw an influx of new players, Kijima played only once. Not only did he not play, there wasn’t even room for him on the game-day roster anymore, and he played exclusively with City2, where he was often used at right back as the team experimented with him at different positions.

Kijima was one of the players who figured to be of interest to San Diego, and other teams, on City SC’s unprotected list. He was a high first-round draft pick — on draft day, many were surprised Kijima was still available when City SC’s turn came — who got more playing time than a first-year draftee would be expected to get. His salary of $71,401 is low enough that he doesn’t need a senior roster spot, and he has two option years still to go on his contract.

But with only 12 players who could be protected, City SC was going to have to leave some players it didn’t want to lose exposed and Kijima was one of them.

City SC will receive $50,000 in general allocation money for losing Kijima, and the team will save some money as Kijima, from Japan, would require an international roster spot. Teams are given eight international spots, but City SC is already over that and would need to acquire one from another team, which usually runs around $200,000 in GAM.

San Diego also chose Hamady Diop, a defender with Charlotte; Heine Gikling Bruseth, a midfielder with Orlando; and Jasper Loffelsend a fullback/midfielder with Colorado. San Diego also picked Thiago Andrade from NYCFC and traded him to Toronto.

The MLS roster-building season continues on Thursday with the opening of free-agent signing period starting at noon. Players out of contract who are at least 24 with at least five years of MLS service are eligible for free agency.