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Domènec Guasch on building Legacy FC’s roster, Trinity Rodman’s NWSL future, and his Barcelona influence
Boston Legacy FC begin the club's inaugural preseason training camp in January prior to making its NWSL debut in March.
Time has moved at a different tempo for Boston Legacy FC general manager Domènec Guasch since he was hired almost exactly one year ago. As he leads the monumental task of building the roster of a brand new soccer club from scratch, every second counts before the team makes its NWSL debut on March 14 at Gillette Stadium.
“It feels like yesterday that I was arriving in Boston,” he admitted in a recent interview. Guasch, a Spaniard, left the coveted role of Head of Management for Women’s Football at FC Barcelona to join the expansion New England side in Dec. 2024.
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It was a profound choice, leaving one of the centers of world soccer — Barcelona have appeared in six of the last seven UEFA Women’s Champions League finals — in order to join a new team that had (at that point) no players, no coach, and no staff. Even the team’s name — which a year ago was still BOS Nation FC — was tenuous, and was eventually swapped for Boston Legacy FC following its troubled rollout and poor reception from fans.
Guasch has worked steadfastly, throwing himself into the unprecedented task of assembling an NWSL roster without the aid of an expansion draft (previously the standard model for new teams in virtually any major American sports league). Due to the league’s latest collective bargaining agreement, expansion drafts (and drafts of any kind) were eliminated. It’s now up to the club to sign a full roster from nothing but the open market.
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Guasch was (and still is) creating the new template as he goes along, working in congruence with a growing Boston staff that now includes Portuguese head coach Filipa Patão.
“I’ve learned a lot throughout this year,” he said. “I’ve been doing a lot of stuff that I did in the past, but at a different level.”
Building to training camp
So far, the club has officially announced 11 signings, including 2025 Ballon d’Or nominee Amanda Gutierres. Still, Boston has 11 more signings to go before hitting the minimum requirement for an NWSL squad size (which mandates at least 22 players on the roster).
Guasch said that the club has pre-contract agreements with several other players that have not yet been announced (which, per league procedures, often does not occur until the offseason), and that the team now needs “very few signings to make the minimum roster.”
He was more concerned with making sure that the roster is balanced, and composed of players who fit with the overall vision.
“It’s been a fun puzzle to put together,” he said of building the squad. “I would say that that’s probably the best way to describe it. You have one piece, then you have to look for the next one that matches that one. And so on and so forth.
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“Every piece is unique. Every piece is different,” added Guasch. “And while it flew by and sometimes I wish I would have had more time, I think we’ve had enough time to put proper thought and proper planning into what we want to do.”
“I would say you should expect additional announcements before preseason,” he added.
Preseason is rapidly approaching for the Legacy, with the roster set to convene for the first time in its history in January. Guasch said that the team will do two preseason training camp sessions “in warmer locations,” (exactly where has not yet been announced).
Looking ahead to the Legacy’s NWSL debut in March, he sounded an optimistic note.
“We strongly believe that we will be competitive,” said Guasch. The problem, he acknowledged, is building the “relational part” of the team’s chemistry together. “We’ll need to work very hard in very little time to build those relationships, obviously [off] the field, but mainly [on] the field for our team to be truly competitive and effective.”
To help address that, Guasch said that Patão is frequently in touch with the many players the club currently has out of loan (playing for other clubs until they begin training camp with Boston), cultivating a dialogue and conveying how she will want them to play for the Legacy.
Trinity Rodman and the question of star signings
Currently, one of the dominant stories of the NWSL offseason is the future of superstar forward Trinity Rodman.
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Rodman, 23, helped the Washington Spirit reach the 2025 NWSL Championship, and was a central component of the U.S. team’s gold medal victory at the 2024 Olympics.
Put simply, she’s one of the most talented players in the world. As a free agent, Rodman has commanded interest from clubs not merely in the NWSL, but around Europe’s top leagues. It’s the latest iteration of an ongoing power struggle that is already a global one.
The NWSL is different than many other comparable leagues, as it has a salary cap. England’s Women’s Super League (WSL) has various financial controls — clubs can spend 80 percent of their women’s team’s revenue along with a capped contribution from owners — but has no cap. The WSL also recently introduced a higher guaranteed minimum salary than the current version in the NWSL.
The result has been some notable departures of NWSL stars to England, including U.S. internationals Naomi Girma and Alyssa Thompson. Rodman could follow suit.
Guasch eschewed from commenting on the ongoing back-and-forth between the leagues, instead highlighting the opportunity that the NWSL’s new CBA affords players in terms of freedom and bargaining leverage.
“Trinity, just like any other player on that list, is a free agent. A lot of times, we tend to [discuss] big players as if they are not people,” he said. “But first of all, they’re human beings, right? It’s great that all [NWSL players] now have a say in where they play, which did not happen up until a year ago.
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“Trinity is a kind of shiny name on that list, and now she has a decision to make because she can decide now where she wants to play,” added Guasch. “I hope it is within the NWSL, and I know the league is doing everything possible to create that environment so she does want to stay, but ultimately it’s her decision.”
The goal, Guasch explained, is not to chase star signings, but remain committed to building within the framework of an overarching plan.
“It’s not about, ‘How do we get that individual player?'” he said. “It’s about, ‘Hey, how do we make the team that we want to make?’ And then we look for the individuals that like fit all the criteria.”
Boston, it should be noted, does in fact have a possible star in the making in Gutierres, the 24-year-old Brazilian forward. She was recently named the 51st best women’s soccer player in the world in a ranking created by The Guardian.
The Barcelona blueprint?
Given Guasch’s background, it’s natural to wonder how much of an influence Barcelona could have on the foundation of Boston Legacy FC.
Listening to Guasch speak about how he wants to build “collectively” in Boston, he seems to echo the Barcelona motto: “Més que un club” (“More than a club”).
Despite that, he said that there’s a clear recognition that simply trying to copy and paste Barcelona’s approach and style everywhere is not only impossible, but impractical.
“I was there at the club for almost 14 years,” he says, reflecting on a period in which he helped build the Catalan club’s now world-class women’s team. “I am from Barcelona, and I grew up a Barcelona fan. So obviously it had a huge influence on who I am today. At the same time, that experience allows me to know that that is very unique to a specific culture, to a specific place and location.
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“It’d be stupid to try to replicate exactly what Barcelona does,” Guasch explained, “because we don’t have the same ingredients to replicate that.”
The ingredients he sees in Boston are nonetheless intriguing, and hold potential for long-term success.
“This is a very gritty city,” said Guasch. “That grit is definitely very helpful when putting a team together to compete. There is also a pursuit of excellence. That it’s always never enough. We always want to do more and more, and improve what we do.”
The Legacy GM cited Boston’s intellectualism and diversity as strengths that he wants to synthesize into the club’s DNA.
“There are a lot of things in the Boston culture that we can integrate into our own culture that will help our team. That approach is something that I take from my analysis of why Barcelona is where it is.”
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