2025 Season Preview Part 2: The Offseason

We’ll be running a three-part season preview series this week, before jumping head-first into game-week reviews starting next week. Expect in-depth soccer analysis, interesting data visualizations, and a breakdown of anything and everything Gotham FC.

The elephant in the room: The offseason

Gotham FC’s offseason ahead of the 2025 season was… dynamic, to say the least. Some of Gotham’s most important players left for new opportunities, but the club was also ambitious in replacing them, bringing in a few big names and several high-profile college signings.

The offseason officially kicked off with free agent midfielder Delanie Sheehan leaving the club to join the Houston Dash in the NWSL’s new model of free agency. This departure was a huge blow to the team—Sheehan was an essential part of Gotham’s system in 2023 and 2024.

Other free agents, defenders Sam Hiatt and Maitane López, left the side for Portland Thorns and the Chicago Stars, respectively, presumably seeking starting time at their new clubs. Later that month, forward Lynn Biyendolo and goalkeeper Cassie Miller were traded to Seattle Reign in exchange for midfielder Jaelin Howell, and forward Yazmeen Ryan was traded to the Houston Dash in exchange for $400,000 in allocation money. Soon after that, goalkeeper Abby Smith was traded to the Dash, defender Jenna Nighswonger was transferred to Arsenal, midfielder McCall Zerboni left in free agency, and forward Crystal Dunn’s contract was bought out in order for her to pursue opportunities abroad. 

Ryan, Nighswonger, Sheehan, and Biyendolo leave big shoes to fill

A versatile attacker who can play as a winger or in the midfield, Yazmeen Ryan is probably the biggest loss of Gotham’s 2025 offseason.

Goals added (g+) is a measure created by American Soccer Analysis that looks at the impact of each action by a player and how much it changes their team’s likelihood of scoring and conceding on that play. Yazmeen Ryan had the second highest net g+ of all Gotham players last season, so her loss is a huge blow to the team. She ended the season with 5 goals and 5 assists (the most assists for Gotham that season) and was also a primary set-piece taker for the team. 

Although she was benched by the end of Gotham’s 2024 season, Jenna Nighswonger is still a big loss for the team. She was a huge contributor to Gotham FC’s attack, sending in far more passes and crosses into the penalty area than any other fullback. 

With the news of all of these departures, it felt like Gotham was hemorrhaging players who felt crucial to Gotham’s system, particularly in the departures of Sheehan, Ryan, Biyendolo, and Nighswonger. The team was forced into a rebuild, and although we have yet to see how that rebuild pans out, we can at the very least be cautiously optimistic.

Portilho and Howell: Two new stars join Gotham

The team’s first big acquisition in the offseason was the signing of forward Gabi Portilho, who arrived on a free transfer from Corinthians in Brazil. The winger ranked 18th on the 2024 Ballon d’Or list and made the Best FIFA Women’s XI in the same year after scoring in both the quarter-finals and the semi-finals of Brazil’s eventual Olympic silver medal run. While Gotham remained defensively sound throughout the 2024 season, the team at times struggled to score goals, so a known chance-creator and goalscorer like Gabi Portilho is a huge get for the team. Portilho is signed to a two-year contract through 2026 with an option for 2027. 

Gotham also picked up midfielder Jaelin Howell from Seattle Reign in the aforementioned trade, and has a year left on the contract that Gotham picked up. Howell was picked second overall by Racing Louisville in the 2022 NWSL draft after Rookie of the Year and 2x defender of the year Naomi Girma. She spent most of her career thus far in Louisville, and even captained the side, before a surprise trade to the Reign halfway through the 2024 season. Howell had a standout national team career on several youth national teams, but has only been capped five times for the senior national team since her senior debut in 2020. She also had a successful college career, winning the prestigious MAC Hermann trophy. Gotham desperately needed more midfielders after the losses of Delanie Sheehan, Maitane López, and McCall Zerboni, and Howell was an excellent pickup as a replacement; she has the potential to truly thrive in Gotham’s system. 

College signings look promising

After drafting and signing only one rookie out of college in each of the 2023 and 2024 seasons, Gotham took a sharp turn in the opposite direction and signed five players out of college ahead of the 2025 season. 

The first college player they signed was Sarah Schupansky, a dynamic attacker who can play on the wing or in the attacking midfielder position. Schupansky was signed to a two-year contract through 2026, with a team option for 2027. Schupansky started for the University of Pittsburgh all four years of her college career and led all D1 NCAA players with 15 assists in the 2024 season. Schupansky is the most likely to day one starter of the rookies this season due to both demonstrated need on the team’s part and demonstrated skill on the player’s part; she is expected to start as an attacking midfielder with Rose Lavelle sidelined with an ankle injury. Later in the season, she can also provide depth in both the attacking midfield position and on the wing.

The team also signed a trio of players out of UCLA in defender Lilly Reale, midfielder Sofia Cook, and goalkeeper Ryan Campbell. 

Reale was projected to be an early first round pick had the draft still existed in 2025 and is a top center back in her college class. Gotham signed her to a three-year contract through the 2027 season. She might find it difficult to pick up minutes this season, as starting center backs Tierna Davidson and Emily Sonnett are unlikely to be benched. If one of the two starting center backs gets injured, if the team just wanted to rotate, or if the team decides to play a 3-back this season, Lilly Reale is one of the best options there is for a center back. 

Sofia Cook signed a two-year contract with a mutual option for 2027 for the team after her junior year at UCLA. She had a strong freshman season where she scored seven goals, the most on her team that year. She will provide important depth in the midfield, an area where Gotham lost a lot of players in the offseason.

In the past, Gotham has drafted goalkeepers Kailen Sheridan, Casey Murphy, and Mandy McGlynn and discovered goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury, so the club has a history of identifying national team-caliber goalkeepers. Although Ryan Campbell is likely to be the third-string keeper for the team this year, signing for Gotham FC is a good omen for her future. Ryan Campbell is only signed through the 2025 season, and it will be interesting to see just how much she is able to see the field in this one year.

Gotham’s other college signing was forward Khyah Harper out of the University of Minnesota, also to a one-year contract through the 2025 season. Harper, who plays on either wing, had a standout senior year, scoring 17 goals. Gotham has created a lot of depth on the forward line this offseason which makes it unlikely for Harper to see starting minutes, but she will definitely be an important depth-piece as she continues to develop her game at the club.

Gotham also signed Ghana international Stella Nyamekye on a three-year contract through 2027 with an option for 2028. Nyamekye comes from Dreamz Ladies FC of the Ghana Women’s Premier League, and she had a standout tournament captaining her national side at the U-20 World Cup in 2024. She plays as a forward or attacking midfielder, and is listed as a midfielder on the team roster so we can expect her to play there for the team. 

Gotham had a very tumultuous offseason that resulted in a near-overhaul of the roster. These changes still have the potential to be a net positive, but all the learning that the team has to do in order to build chemistry from scratch with so many new pieces will certainly be an uphill battle. Still, the new signings seem to have potential and many significant players from last year remain on the team.

Keep following along with us tomorrow as we break down each position in the final part of our season preview!