Oakland Roots have made a couple of alterations to the lineup so far this transfer window, and with 10 days left to make moves, could another one be on the horizon?
Birmingham Legion forward Danny Trejo has been posting clues about something possibly building in his future after falling out of favor under Mark Briggs.
On Saturday, the same day as the Legion’s match, Trejo posted he was on his way to “Cali soon,” making sure to include a soccer ball emoji. Then on Monday, the former Phoenix Rising and Las Vegas Lights forward made his way to Lake Merritt for a quick photo-op.
Trejo is currently under contract with Birmingham and definitely has suitors around the transfer market. But if he travelled to Oakland, then Roots may have reached an agreement with Legion for the former champion.
He could mark the biggest in-season acquisition for Roots, signing a highly regarded USL Championship goal-scorer and former champion with Phoenix, where he played alongside Panos Armenakas.
A move to Oakland would also reunite Trejo and Wolfgang Prentice, who were former college teammates at CSU Northridge, with current Lights and former Roots striker Johnny Rodriguez. Trejo and Wolfy were teammates on the Matadors before the pandemic in 2018 and 2019.
In 2018, Northridge defeated four different top-25 ranked opponents, including No. 21 UC Irvine, No. 17 Cornell, No. 16 UC Davis, and No. 11 UCLA. In 2019, the Matadors upset No. 7 Washington 3-1, where Trejo scored once and Johnny scored twice.
With Birmingham this season, Trejo hasn’t appeared since July 11, when he scored two goals in a 3-2 win over North Carolina. He wound up winning Player of the Week honors. Oakland has already taken chances on cast-off players this season with Faysal Bettache from FC Tulsa and Morey Doner from Detroit City.
Could Trejo become the third overlooked player for Roots to swap up this season?
Trejo, 27, is entering his veteran years and would be joining the seventh team of his professional career since 2020. After graduating from Northridge, he began playing for LA Force of NISA, becoming the No. 14 overall pick in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft by LAFC and joining then-affiliate side, Las Vegas Lights.
Trejo signed an MLS contract with LAFC in 2022, but his contract option was declined the following offseason. He signed with Phoenix Rising as a free agent in 2023, helping them lift the championship trophy.
He signed with Korona Kielce of Poland’s top division, Ekstraklasa, to a two-and-a-half-year contract in 2024. He was released by mutual consent back in January, and he signed with Birmingham Legion a couple of weeks later.
For his USL championship career, Trejo has appeared in 92 matches and started 76 times, totaling 6,900 minutes, 38 goals, and 13 assists.
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