Daniel Ulises Leyva

Daniel Ulises Leyva moved to Mexico in December 2025, joining Necaxa in a deal that could rise to $1 million with add-ons, while Seattle Sounders retained a 20-25% sell-on interest in any future transfer. The switch closed a chapter that began years earlier in the Sounders' academy, where the midfielder signed a homegrown contract in 2019 and worked through Tacoma Defiance, the club's reserve side.

Leyva's development ran alongside three trophies at Seattle: the MLS Cup in 2019, the CONCACAF Champions League in 2022, and the Leagues Cup in 2025. In 2023 Colorado Rapids took him on loan for a fee of $92,000 in general allocation money plus a draft pick, a spell that gave him first-team minutes away from Seattle before he returned to the Sounders setup.

Born in Las Vegas, Leyva has represented the United States at youth level and sits in the U23 pool, with no senior caps for Mexico despite his heritage. His clearest individual recognition came early, when he was named to the Best XI of the 2019 CONCACAF U-17 Championship.

At Necaxa, Leyva now steps into Liga MX after a career built almost entirely within one club's pathway, from academy football through a loan spell and into a trophy-laden first team before the move to Mexico.