Earlier this week, the San Jose Earthquakes announced that they had acquired midfielder Eduard Löwen from St. Louis City SC in exchange for $425,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) in 2026, and up to $500,000 additional GAM depending on performance conditions.
Löwen met with local media to discuss the transfer on Thursday, stating: “I’m very excited for the new opportunity—excited to work with the coaching staff, with the new team, with this historic club. The first few days have been very good. I hope I can help the team to get back on track to do what they did in the beginning of the season.”
Elite Playmaker
During his time in St. Louis, Löwen established himself as a top-tier playmaker in the MLS. Across four seasons, he registered 47 goal contributions (27 of which were assists) in 84 games.
Coming to San Jose, the Earthquakes will certainly be hoping that Löwen is able to create additional chances for their striker duo of Timo Werner and Preston Judd, both of whom are scoring at a respectable rate but likely not as often as head coach Bruce Arena would prefer. Getting that duo, specifically Werner, on the scoresheet more often would do wonders to get the Quakes out of their on-going slump.
“I do think we have a really good team with really good individual qualities, and I think the way this team is set up, we can be even more successful because there’s good playmakers in the team,” Löwen said. “We’re really good on the ball. We have a lot of pace in the back. We have a lot of pace up front. I want to put my teammates in good positions to score and assist them. Hopefully they can also put me in good positions where I can score myself.”
“Eduard is a proven player in this league with the versatility and experience to make an impact in our midfield,” Bruce Arena said in the press release for the signing. “Beyond what he brings on the field, he’s a great person with strong character and leadership qualities. We’re excited to have him in San Jose and look forward to welcoming him to the club.”
Ready for Debut
Löwen is expected to debut for the Earthquakes on Saturday against the Houston Dynamo. They’ll certainly be counting on him to perform right out of the gate, as San Jose have lost five of their last six games and are winless in their last six league games.
Despite the team’s recent struggles, Löwen feels he can help the Earthquakes right the ship and get back to the form they showed early in the season. “I think that the team probably has surprised a lot of people in the league this season. They came in really strong, won a lot of games,” he said. “It was really nice to watch because I personally love attacking football, and that is what this team does. Now it’s just about helping the team get back on track to to win games and I hope I I can help the team do that and once we win one game, then hopefully we can start a winning streak again as they did in the past.”
More than anything, Löwen is excited to get his first taste of action at PayPal Park as a member of the Earthquakes as the stadium carries some sentimental value for the German international. ““I’m excited for the first home game,” he said. “We have three away games, so I have to be a little bit patient and wait for that. But I’m definitely looking forward to the atmosphere here at PayPal Park. It was actually the first stadium that I played in here in America.”
The Earthquakes continue to make big additions during the Bruce Arena era, now it’s time for those moves to consistently pay off on the pitch, rather than just on paper.
Earthquakes’ Löwen Excited for New Opportunity in San Jose