Nashville SC: Walker Zimmerman continues MLS-first approach

After a quiet offseason, Nashville SC made the splash trade to acquire Walker Zimmerman from LAFC. The center-back’s arrival continues their MLS-first approach.

While some teams around the league invested in record-breaking signings and chased after big names, Nashville SC has stood strong. After a successful Expansion Draft and SuperDraft which saw the additions of Jack Maher, Alistair Johnston, Elliot Panicco, Joe Willis, and Daniel Lovitz to name a few, the roster began to take shape.

But after a very quiet offseason since then, it was clear this club was taking a different approach to building their team, an approach that just needed a little time and domestic focus.

When you look at the trend of the rest of MLS, this approach — having only one Designated Player on the roster, largely focusing on MLS players — is troubling considering the important role the DP slots and international players have played in successful MLS teams.

The approach to building a team from the ground up has been different from the get-go for Nashville SC. A high-spending/international approach like that of Atlanta United isn’t on the cards. Their current roster of 29 players has been comprised mostly of players from inside the MLS.

Built using those aforementioned drafts as well as the Re-entry draft and trades, this squad includes players with MLS experience and proven production, international newcomers, and seven players from the USL ranks, including six from their own USL squad.

And that approach, one of relying on proven MLS contributors, has continued this week with a blockbuster acquisition of Los Angeles FC center-back, Walker Zimmerman. The 26-year-old USMNT player will join Nashville for anywhere from $950,000 to $1.2 million (if certain benchmarks are hit) in allocation money and a 2020 international roster spot. He is not cheap.

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But Zimmerman is the kind of addition fans needed in an otherwise quiet offseason. He is a former MLS Best XI selection, has 12 caps with the USMNT, including two goals and a recent start in the team’s 1-0 win over Costa Rica back on February 1st, and is proven at the MLS level. His addition only helps bolster what could be a formidable backline.

The Zimmerman addition also continues the same roster-building narrative adopted by the club this offseason. While Nashville SC did bring in German midfielder Hany Mukhtar of Danish Superligaen side Brondby IF as their first and only DP signing back in November, as well as Costa Rican forward Randall Leal from Deportivo Saprissa on a TAM deal in September, their roster largely consists of players that have prior MLS experience.

Quite what the 2020 season has in store of Nashville SC remains to be seen. But they are bucking the league-wide trend and focusing on proven MLS talent, and Zimmerman only continues that approach.