Inter Miami CF is waiving Julian Gressel, clearing the way for the midfielder to head to Minnesota United FC, sources tell ESPN.
Gressel has long been reported to be heading out of South Florida. After making 32 league and playoff appearances during last year's Supporters' Shield-winning campaign, he has yet to see the field in a competitive match in 2025, and clearly didn't fit into the plans of manager Javier Mascherano, who succeeded Gerardo "Tata" Martino after last season.
The 31-year-old was completely left off of the gameday roster more than once this season, including Sunday's 4-3 loss to FC Dallas, with Mascherano opting to use 18-year-old Santiago Morales instead. He also failed to train with the team this week or travel for the semifinal first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup -- a 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Gressel, the 2017 MLS Rookie of the Year, is a two-time MLS Cup winner, first with Atlanta United FC in 2018, and later with the Columbus Crew in 2023. He also was part of Altanta United FC's U.S. Open Cup winning side in 2019, as well as the Vancouver Whitecaps Canadian Championship sides in 2022 and 2023.
Miami is waiving Gressel as a cost-saving measure in the hope that another team would pick up a portion of the player's salary, which includes a guaranteed compensation for 2025 of $1.09 million. That team appears to be Minnesota.
According to MLS's roster rules for 2025: "If a player with a guaranteed contract is waived, any interested MLS club will have 48 hours from the notice of Waivers to claim the player by notifying the League of the intention to claim the player and the amount of the player's Salary Budget Charge they wish to assume. The player will be awarded based on a number of factors, including but not limited to, Waiver Order and which club is willing to absorb a Salary Budget Charge that is meaningfully higher than other clubs and at least $15,000 higher than Senior Minimum Salary."
GiveMeSport was the first to report that Gressel would be heading to the Loons.
In a possibly related move, sources also tell ESPN that the Loons are also contemplating placing midfielder Hassani Dotson on the season-ending injury list. Dotson underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee in late March, and is expected to miss multiple months.
ESPN writer Lizzy Becherano contributed to this story.
