St Louis City SC clearly knows what the MLS table looks like ahead of the season's final third.
Following a 3-3 draw with FC Dallas on Sunday, St Louis City was able to maintain a three-point advantage over Colorado for sixth place in the Western Conference standings despite the latter defeating Real Salt Lake 1-0. At the same time, St Louis City is in firm control of a playoff spot, sitting six points clear of 10th-place Real Salt Lake, though they have played one additional game.
With that in mind, it seems that St Louis City is working towards reinforcing the roster ahead of the final push towards the playoffs.
The club's interest in Colorado forward Rafa Navarro, who has scored 10 goals in 22 MLS matches so far this season, has been noted, and such a transfer is close to completion as of this writing.
But it seems that the club won't stop there, as they are also close to completing a move for Southampton striker Damion Downs to their attacking depth.
USMNT forward earns chance for game time following loan to Hamburger SV
The former product of Bundesliga side FC Köln, Downs was with the club when they suffered relegation to the second tier and followed that up with a promotion back to the Bundesliga. That same 2024-25 campaign saw him record 11 goals across 32 total appearances in the German second tier and the DFB-Pokal, Germany's domestic cup competition.
After that campaign, Downs took on a move to Championship side Southampton. But his stint with the club to start the 2025-26 campaign saw him fail to record a goal across 14 total appearances. That resulted in a second-half loan move to Bundesliga side Hamburger SV, where he was unable to record a goal in 12 total league appearances.
Downs had yet to record an appearance to start the 2026-27 campaign with Southampton.
At the international level, Downs made six appearances with the USMNT in 2025.
How does St Louis City's transfer activity help them?
Despite being in a favorable position in the Western Conference standings, St Louis City could use the benefit of additional goalscoring. Of the nine teams that currently make up the Western Conference playoff field, St Louis City is sixth in terms of goals scored; they are ahead of the Houston Dynamo (2nd in the Western Conference), Colorado (7th in the Western Conference), and Minnesota United (9th in the Western Conference).
Both Navarro and Downs have shown that they are capable goalscorers. Even though Downs has struggled since his breakout season, he is capable of providing goals when required. That could very well be key as St Louis City looks to chase down a second playoff appearance in their first four seasons in MLS.
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