U.S. men’s national team legend Landon Donovan revealed the San Jose Earthquakes lost their star player, Cristian Espinoza to Nashville SC after a staff member “forgot” to trigger the option on the player’s contract.
Espinoza recorded 36 goals and 70 assists in 218 MLS regular-season appearances across seven seasons with the Earthquakes, but was left as a free agent after leading MLS in key passes last season.
The 30-year-old’s contract ran through 2025 and had an option for 2026, but Espinoza ultimately bid farewell to San Jose to sign with Nashville. There was more to the surprise move, though, what many originally thought.
“The story with San Jose is wild. I want to stress this: this was not [Earthquakes manager] Bruce Arena who did this, but someone who was running the technical side before, literally just forgot that they had to trigger [Espinoza’s] option, or at least trigger the option to trigger the option, so all of a sudden he became a free agent,” Donovan said on the Unfiltered Podcast with fellow former USMNT star Tim Howard.
“I know they tried hard to keep him and re-sign him, but in the end, he said, ‘All right, well, I guess you didn’t want me, so I’m going to go to Nashville.’”
Left out of the initial rush of free agent signings, Espinoza inked a deal with Nashville through 2028, with options through June 2029 and the 2029-2030 seasons, leaving the Earthquakes without their cornerstone piece of the last seven years.
Nashville, San Jose Both Benefit
While no other sources have confirmed Donovan’s report, both teams are significant winners in the deal.
For San Jose, Espinoza’s departure may have opened the door for a bigger swing, as they look set to sign former Chelsea forward Timo Werner from RB Leipzig, bringing in a rare marquee name for the California club. Werner, who has 57 caps with the German men’s national team, has played just 14 minutes this season in a challenging situation with Leipzig.
Landon says someone in the San Jose front office forgot to "trigger the option to trigger the option" in Cristian Espinoza's contract, leading him to sign with Nashville. pic.twitter.com/DM7ZMRdVh3
— UnfilteredSoccer (@UnfilteredSoccr) January 13, 2026
Meanwhile, Nashville have a new playmaker out wide, who will provide more opportunities for the potent duo of Sam Surridge, who finished 2025 as the third-highest goalscorer in MLS with 24 goals, and Hany Mukhtar, who had 16 goals and 12 assists across 34 regular-season appearances.
Both teams kick off the regular season on Feb. 21 and will meet in a cross-conference regular-season matchup on Oct. 17.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Forgot’—Landon Donovan Reveals Wild Way San Jose Earthquakes Lost Star Player.
