As the United Soccer League season starts, the teams begin to look for new and better players and coaches. New Mexico United’s season came to an end last year with a sad and abrupt loss to Las Vegas in the playoffs last year. They looked for key players to fill in the holes in the team as well as a coach to fill the key role that Eric Quill played, who left his position as head coach of New Mexico United to join the MLS team FC Dallas.

Departures
As the season came to a close last year, many players looked elsewhere for success. There were other players who found this would be the end of their soccer career and retired. But here is who left New Mexico United this off season.
Marco Micaletto joined last season’s champions, Colorado Switchbacks, who finished second in the west behind United, and he has played as an attacking midfielder for both teams.
Nanan Houssou, left after just one season with United to join Charleston who finished second in the east last year in the USL. He is still a guaranteed starter last year at Defensive Midfielder.
Nicky Hernadez, left the black and yellow after one and a half years to join his former club San Antonio FC in the USL who finished 9th last year. He was a solid bench option for a midfielder.
Abdi Mohamed, our star right back, who played in key moments for the team, left Albuquerque as the 2024 season ended. He joined Oakland Roots, who were in the same league, the USL, who finished 7th last year in the West.
Avionne Flanagan, left the black and yellow after joining United in 2024 playing the Left Wing position with his quickness but now he is a free agent without a club sense April 4, 2025.
Harry Swartz, after 4 years playing for United has retired at the age of 28 and has become a legend for the club. His key role at the club playing right wing and he will be missed.

A New Era for United
As Eric Quill, a former FC Dallas player, left United to start his new journey with FC Dallas as the head coach this time, United was stuck in a sticky situation without a coach for the offseason. As the regular season neared United looked at the options for head coach and found Denis Sanchez, who coached the Las Vegas Lights (a team in the western conference of the USL). He led the Lights to 4th in the West. After beating Sacramento on penalties, Las Vegas played New Mexico, which led to a loss for United after a historic season. As Denis Sanchez started his role at United, his first move was to hire Armando Quezada, the former goalkeeper coach for the Las Vegas Lights.

Arrivals
The first new edition to New Mexico United was Luiz Fernando, a native Brazilian and a Left Winger from Memphis 901 in the USL. He adds a new spark to the team with his speed, quickness, and with his accurate crosses into the box.
The next addition to the team is Tomas Pondeca from FC Dallas. After his experience in the indoor soccer world cup with the US he earned himself a move to United playing in the central midfielder position.
Another player who came to United is Gedion Zelalem, a powerful defensive midfielder who grew his career up in the Arsenal academy. He left his team in the Croatian league after two years with the team.
The next star player to join United is McKinze Gaines, a speedy right winger from Houston Dynamo FC, a promising team in the MLS. He is now the second most valuable player on United in terms of market value: $500k.
The next addition to the black and yellow is Jaylin Lindsey, a creative right back from Charlotte FC, an upcoming team in the MLS. He is now by far the most valuable player on United in market value at $800k.
Another player coming up to the United team is Thomas Amang from Cameroon, who joined United after being a free agent for just a month. He plays as a striker for the team and he has played 1% of the minutes for United in five games (2 minutes) but has scored one game winner.
The newest player to join NM United is Ousman Jabang. He joined from Montreal CF in the MLS, before he played with Denis Shanchez in Las Vegas. He adds a strong defensive core to the team with his tight defense and quick feet.

As the season comes to a start, Denis Sanchez coaches and feels out the team to see if any last minute changes need to be made, and the teams around the league begin to take shape with five games into the season for New Mexico United while standing second in the west with two games in hand.