Hello!

It’s hard to believe the last time I showed up in your inbox it was 2025! Yet that also means I didn’t hold true to showing up every two weeks. So apologies for going unexpectedly offline.

In the month-ish since we last spoke, quite a bit has happened in the world of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Players have transferred out. Trades have been executed. And rumours have been abound.

Yet the most important event that’s occurred is the team is back together and currently training in Spain in preparation for the 2026 season. Can you believe it?!

The View

Considering all that has taken place in the past month, I figured it would be easiest to catch everyone up with a speed round of sorts. So here we go:

Players In

• Yohei Takaoka. While there was a touch of worry that Yohei might walk in free-agency, I shared that Axel was pretty darn confident he’d be back for 2026. And well, Yohei is back for 2026. And through to June 2027 potentially.

• Zach Ramsey, Daniel Lugo, Yeider Zuluaga, and Connor Lofy. All four of these players were selected in the MLS SuperDraft. What I find interesting is three of the four all plied their college craft just across the border in Seattle.

• Oliver Larraz. A product of the Colorado Rapids system, Oliver is likely a depth signing with the potential to fill-in for the departed Ali Ahmed. And while I don’t know much about him, to see the number of Rapids supporters upset they lost him free agency gives me hope the ‘Caps acquired a good ‘un.

Players Out

• Jayden Nelson. Jayden wanted more minutes than he was going to receive here in Vancouver. And despite the eventual departure of Ali Ahmed (look below), he wasn’t going to place above Ryan Gauld or Emmanuel Sabbi. So the Whitecaps did him a solid and pried some GAM and a draft pick out of Austin FC.

• Ali Ahmed. While his departure to Championship side Norwich City came as somewhat a surprise to many, it sounds like he shared his desire to move on from the Whitecaps and the club obliged. Going to miss the kid.

Players with Hot (and now Cold) Rumours

• Tristan Blackmon. Really hard to tell what all went down over the past month with Tristan. What we do know is Inter Miami pitched an offer to acquire his services from Vancouver for a decent amount of money, albeit over the course of yearly installments. We also know that Vancouver said “heck to the no” (could be paraphrasing here). What made it messy is the amount of smoke suggesting Tristan was the one who wanted either a new contract or out, and that he’d be holding out on Vancouver until his demands were met.
  
  So did he hold out? No. He arrived in Vancouver for medical testing. And he departed with the team to Marbella, Spain for camp.

Around the Pitch

Near the conclusion of the 2025 season, I spun up a Discord server to connect with y’all on a regular basis - something a few of you have already joined (shout out to Jordan, IkeaHatGuy, Anth, Jay, and Scott).

I figured it would be cool for the best Whitecaps FC supporters who happen to also support this humble newsletter to have a place to connect and shoot the proverbial.

Yet I recognize there are a few other Discord servers that do something similar, and tend to be a touch more active than the From 231 Discord Server. So here are a few:

• Vancouver Southsiders Discord. While the primary focus of the server is to connect Southsiders with other Southsiders, all Whitecaps FC supporters are welcome to be part of the server.

• Sisters Supporter Group Discord. This server is where the Sisters Supporter Group hang out in the digital space. It’s also the one Discord I’ve seen Raincity Brigade supporters chime in (not to say they don’t elsewhere, but I noticed them here). Should you click that link to join, be forewarned that they screen all new members (and I had to create the link so not sure how long it will last).

• Vancouver Whitecaps Reddit Discord. If you’ve ever visited the r/WhitecapsFC subreddit, you’ll likely know what to expect in this server. Conversations are prolific and if you’re serially online you’ll likely be able to keep up. I’m not and therefore find it hard to.

It’s hard to believe that we’ll all be together at BC Place to watch the Whitecaps FC take on Real Salt Lake a month from now (home opener is February 21)! And while the ‘Caps do get things underway on their 2026 campaign days prior in Costa Rica, it’s that home opener that really means things are underway to me.

While it’s possible that you’ll see me in your inbox prior to, I’m aiming to drop the next issue the middle of February and then transition to back to our normally expected weekly cadence.

And one final note - there’s always space for more voices here at From 231 so if you’ve ever had an inkling of writing content for a humble newsletter, reach out to me (replying to this is the best way)!