Loons midfielder Hassani Dotson addresses trade demand publicly for first time

Hassani Dotson is still with Minnesota United — but he’s still not exactly happy.

In late January, the Loons midfielder — whose contract is up at the end of this year — made his unhappiness with the front office known, and publicly demanded a trade.

It was certainly an uncommon outcome for an MLS contract negotiation, but perhaps even less common is that it hasn’t changed his status with the team at all. Dotson is still with the Loons, and has started all three of Minnesota’s games this year — once at each of the three spots in the team’s midfield.

It was clear that Dotson hasn’t enjoyed being publicly discontent with his situation. “It’s someplace I thought I’d end my career at, so just being that in the public, it’s something that I’ve grown to handle with,” he said Tuesday, addressing the issue publicly for the first time. “So hoping for the best, but we’ll see.”

The last time the MLS Players Association released its biannual salary guide, last September, Dotson was listed as making a little more than $550,000 in guaranteed compensation — in the middle of the pack for an MLS player.

Minnesota has built up a good amount of payroll flexibility, including the league’s third-largest stockpile of allocation money (effectively, salary-cap space). But chief soccer officer Khaled El-Ahmad has been open about his desire for his squad to get younger — which included him signing two 24-and-under midfielders this offseason, in Hoyeon Jung and Owen Gene.

That said, Minnesota has offered Dotson new contracts, including more money, but the two sides haven’t been able to come to terms.

By Dotson’s own admission, his contract situation led to what he termed “a couple of dips in form” last season. The midfielder started almost every game for Minnesota, but was sent off twice — once in MLS play and once in the Leagues Cup — and by his own admission, he was trying to learn to manage the off-field distractions.

In the final stretch of the year, though, he was noticeably one of Minnesota’s best players, and he’s started 2025 strongly as well.

“I think that’s just when I kind of put everything in the rearview mirror and just tried to focus as much as I can on soccer,” said Dotson. “People that come to the game, the fans, they deserve everyone’s best, at least them giving 100%. Obviously, the [off-field] decision-making is what’s hard about our game.”

At 27, Dotson is still in his prime. And with more than 150 games in all competitions under his belt for Minnesota, it’d be hard for Loons fans to see the departure of a player who’s gone from SuperDraft pick to midfield stalwart.

His desire to leave isn’t definitive, but he seems resolute in his determination to get what he’s asking for.

“That is between, you know, the upper management and my representation,” he said. “My teammates know, the coaching staff knows, that I’m excited to be here. I work for the team first, and what comes of it is what comes of it.“

“There’s not been a hint of him not being there, not being at it, not being with it,” said manager Eric Ramsay, who said he’s made a conscious effort to keep his relationship with Dotson entirely focused on the field. “It’s been a really good start for him. So all I care about is that that continues, and fingers crossed that his situation is resolved one way or another.”

Dotson isn’t ruling anything out, either way — but he does sound a bit wounded. “From my perspective, I don’t think any [bridges] are burned,” he said. “We’re all people, we all can grow. It’s a business, you know? So if it’s business on their end, I’m just here to play soccer.”

Striker Kelvin Yeboah didn’t train with the Loons on Tuesday, after being substituted — unusually, for him — in the second half of Saturday’s game.

According to Ramsay, he could have played 90 minutes — and probably could have trained as well. “He’s in very good condition, so I think if he ends up having a couple of days off this week just to make sure we don’t aggravate anything, then that would be a sensible thing,” he said.

Fullback Joseph Rosales didn’t participate with the team but worked on the side, and Ramsay said the team wants to be cautious with his quad injury at this early point in the season. “If it’s not handled carefully, if it’s rushed back too quickly, then it certainly becomes a problem that plagues him for three months as opposed to three weeks,” he said.