New and unfamiliar players are commonplace when Minnesota United’s preseason training sessions start in Blaine each January. But this year more than most.

MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Dayne St. Clair is gone to Miami and fellow MLS All-Star Robin Lod is now in Chicago Joseph Rosales was traded to Austin and free agent Hassani Dotson signed with Seattle. Those four were stalwarts at the club over the last five-plus years.

And Cameron Knowles was just appointed head coach, with Eric Ramsay gone after two years to lead West Bromwich Albion in England’s second division.

“I full respect and understanding the emotional attachment to a lot of people we like and good-quality players and staff leaving all at once, that it looks like a bigger thing from an external perspective, but internally quite calm,” Loons Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad said Tuesday at the news conference to introduce Knowles. “We got young players coming up. We’ve got a great, new staff. Recruitment team is doing what it needs to do.”

The newbies from within MLS are forward Tomas Chancalay from New England, goalkeeper Drake Callender from Charlotte and midfielder Peter Stroud from New York Red Bulls. And a signing from last summer, winger Kenyel Michel, has joined from Costa Rica.

More additions are sought via the transfer window, including a potential Designated Player. The Loons could bring in approximately three or four total players before the window closes later this spring.

United has rekindled a pursuit of midfielder Tomi Horvat, a 26-year-old Slovenian playing for Sturm Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga. The Loons went to this league last year when it plucked midfielder Dominik Fitz from Austria Wien.

Horvat has seven goal contributions this season, after producing 12 in each of the previous two seasons, per fbref.com.

On Thursday, the outlet Tipsbladet said MNUFC is a potential suitor for Callum McCowatt, a 26-year-old New Zealand attacker playing for Silkeborg in Denmark’s Superliga.

McCowatt has eight goals and two assists in 18 matches this season. He had five goals apiece in the last two seasons.

MNUFC put in a significant bid to Cruz Azul for froward Mateusz Bagusz, the Pioneer Press heard, but Houston Dynamo are “getting closer to a deal,” The Athletic said Wednesday.

The Loons are exploring moving Bongi Hlongwane up from a right wingback role into more attacking spots this season. This would open up a need to bring in a right back via the transfer market, and it appears Europe is a spot the club is trying to make inroads.

Nectar absent

Loons midfielder Nectar Triantis reported to training camp in Minnesota to start this week, but has since been granted time away from the team as he copes with a deeply personal matter, a club spokesman said this week.

Triantis has been linked in a transfer move to join Ramsay at West Brom, but this absence is based on a situation not associated from the sport.

Triantis’ return date is up in the air; the club is being sympathetic to him. The Loons headed Thursday to Irvine, Calif., for 10 days of preseason training and will come back to Minnesota on Jan. 24.

Beep test

The Loons did the beep fitness test on Wednesday and MNUFC2 player Troy Putt won it. Logan Dorsey was second, with midfielders Wil Trapp, Stroud and Owen Gene were in the next tier.

Putt, 19, is a promising player within the Loons’ system. He contributed to the New Zealand side in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup last year and is signed with MNUFC through the 2026 season.

Briefly

MNUFC has Alec Hughes in preseason as a trialist. The 23-year-old forward out of Massachusetts was first round pick of Los Angeles FC in the 2025 draft. … All four of MNUFC’s college draft picks back in December have remaining eligibility left and all will use it in 2026. Midfielder Jaylinn Mitchell (Southern Methodist); forward Bardia Hormozi (Princeton); center back Aiden Beggared (California State-Fullerton); and goalkeeper Michael Mroz (Evansville). …. Loons are looking to sign 2024 draft pick Marcus Caldeira; the attacker went back to West Virginia after being selection. … Forward Jordan Adebayo-Smith starts training camp with an injury. … MNUFC’s new jersey will be released in February. It will replace the black “Starry Night” kit, and the new look also comes in black. … Goalkeeper Wessel Speel will remain on loan to Shelbourne in Ireland; that’s where he was for most of last season. Midfielder Hoyeon Jung, who tore his ACL with Minnesota last summer, will go on loan to Suwon Samsung in his native South Korea in 2026. … Darius Randell, a Loons’ homegrown player, has been away from the first team this week while participating in the U.S. youth national team training camp in Mesa, Ariz.