To build a competitive Major League Soccer team, it is crucial to make the most of the three Designated Player slots. Ever since the expansion of the rule, the very best teams in the league have been founded on two or three elite-level players who can singlehandedly win matches and provide the cornerstone of the entire system. And so, every offseason, the most important signings to take note of are the DP arrivals, and in 2020, we saw more spending across the league than ever before, especially at the DP slots.
So, with this in mind, here are the top five DP signings from the 2020 offseason, with two obvious caveats: the first is that any player who was signed in 2020 but had previously played for the team is not included; the second is that this is a far-too-early analysis so take everything with a grain of salt.