All eyes in Futbol Club Cincinnati's fanbase are fixed squarely on Alan Koch, Luke Sassano, and the club's technical staff.

This group, led by Koch, the head coach, and Sassano, the technical director, is responsible for assembling the club's roster for its inaugural Major League Soccer campaign next year.

They've been out globetrotting in search of new talent, but the most salient question for the club's loyal following right now is this: Which players from the highly-successful 2018 team will make the jump to MLS with the club?

It's a difficult question. There are few straightforward answers as it is conceivable that many players on the 2018 team could fill some kind of role in 2019.

Rather than make this a guessing game with a hard cut line, let's think about what's true and known of FC Cincinnati's 2018 roster. In attempting to answer the question of which players make the jump to MLS, I've assigned FC Cincinnati players to the following categories based on their 2018 performances, previous reporting, and other factors:

- Virtual locks for MLS.

- Sensible bets/FCC would be wise to bring back...

- Don't rule these players out.

- Players whose stock is rising.

- Players whose stock is down.

- Too close to call.

Here's how the members of the 2018 team stack up...

VIRTUAL LOCKS FOR MLS

• Fanendo Adi – Brought in alongside Fatai Alashe at midseason on an MLS deal, Adi lived up to his billing down the stretch as he was FC Cincinnati's top-scoring forward over the final 10 matches. He did nothing to diminish his prospects of joining the team in MLS.

• Fatai Alashe – Impressed getting forward in the playoff matches and stood out as an obvious elite talent in most of his USL appearances.

• Emmanuel Ledesma – By now, you should be aware of Ledesma's MVP-caliber USL campaign. ESPNFC also reported Ledesma's MLS deal has been completed with FC Cincinnati.

• Corben Bone – Count Bone in for next year. His 2018 campaign was too good to pass on. Some think he – not Ledesma – was FC Cincinnati's MVP last season.

SENSIBLE BETS/PLAYERS FCC WOULD BE WISE TO BRING BACK...:

• Forrest Lasso –This is a two-team USL All-League First-Team selection, and the club wants to bring him back. He's a tall, imposing, bruising defender and has caught the eye of other MLS organizations. If he doesn't make the jump to MLS with Cincinnati, he'll surely do it with another club.

• Blake Smith – Smith was a no-nonsense option at left back that not only made clean work of his defending but quickly and impressively fended off Pa Konate, who was brought in midseason to challenge Smith for minutes.

• Nazmi Albadawi – A newly-minted Palestine international, Albadawi was FC Cincinnati's joint third-leading scorer with 11 goals in 2018. He's got his feet under him and feels at home in Cincinnati. His creativity is a breath of fresh air and he's far from hitting his ceiling.

• Justin Hoyte – Age might be working against Hoyte – he turns 34 in November – but FC Cincinnati will be hard-pressed to find a better, reasonably-priced right back. Hoyte held his position down throughout 2018 and there wasn't much controversy around that reality. He's a simple and intelligent player with vast experience at the highest levels of the game, and he still has considerable speed in his legs and presses forward well.

• Michael Lahoud – MLS experience. A calming presence in the midfield. His game translates directly to the next level. Helps on the field and is a marketable player. Bring this man to MLS.

DON'T RULE THESE PLAYERS OUT:

• Russell Cicerone – He didn't necessarily have the stats and appearances to warrant strong consideration from the casual fan, but this is a young, skilled, and versatile player FC Cincinnati can and should invest in for the future.

• Sem de Wit – The story of de Wit's 2018 season almost ran parallel to that of Cicerone. He didn't play much but is younger, very versatile, and has tremendous upside. He, like Cicerone, is far from hitting his ceiling.

PLAYERS WHOSE STOCK IS RISING:

• Jimmy McLaughlin – "Pennsylvania Messi" wasn't always in Koch's starting XI – a new role for him in 2018 – but his appearances during the final third of the season increased dramatically. After sparse appearances early in 2018, McLaughlin appeared in each of the final 12 matches of 2018 including seven starts. He was a necessary spark plug for FC Cincinnati off the bench in the USL Cup playoffs

• Tyler Gibson – His body of work is small after missing most of 2018 through injury, but Gibson featured in a holding midfield position in the biggest games of FC Cincinnati's season. Koch was obviously high on Gibson going into the playoffs.

• Richie Ryan – Ryan started 14 of the first 16 league matches in 2018 before sustaining an injury that nearly canceled out the balance of his season. And in those starts, Ryan was highly effective. He fought back from the injury and played important minutes during the final matches of FC Cincinnati's season.

• Paddy Barrett – Barrett finished 2018 in a flourish, captaining FC Cincinnati in seven of its final 10 matches of 2018, including in the playoffs. He owned that role in all aspects, including stepping up to face the media after FC Cincinnati's earlier-than-expected playoff exit.

TOO CLOSE TO CALL:

• Kenney Walker – Walker was a crucial piece of the puzzle for FC Cincinnati in 2016 and 2017. That wasn't as true in 2018 as he seemed to fall in and out of favor over the course of the season. Walker made 21 league starts times 2018 – the fewest in the three years he's been at Cincinnati. Regardless, he still played a critical role in the USL Cup playoffs as a spark plug off the bench.

• Emery Welshman – Four goals in 28 appearances and 14 total starts on the year. He split time up top with Adi and Konig over the final 10 regular-season matches. Welshman accepted an international call-up with Guyana (and scored a hat-trick) late in the season, though, which might be an indicator he already had a sense of what his future was with FC Cincinnati.

• The Goalkeepers – This might be the biggest question mark for Koch and Co. this offseason. If FC Cincinnati's able to retain anyone from the 2018 goalkeeping group comprised of USL Golden Glove winner Evan Newton, Spencer Richey, and Mark Village, that's a good thing. If FC Cincinnati can retain any combination of two out of the three players, go dance in the street and celebrate. Richey, who said he has two club options left on his deal with Vancouver Whitecaps FC (remember - he was on loan with FC Cincinnati in 2018) might be too expensive/complicated to bring back. The same could be said of Newton, but at least his rights aren't the property of another club. And Village received one chance in competitive play all season to show his stuff, but he was still pushing Newton and Richey every single day in training – and pushing them hard.

PLAYERS WHOSE STOCK IS DOWN:

• Dekel Keinan – After captaining FC Cincinnati most of the season, Keinan appeared in just three of FC Cincinnati's final 10 matches. He dressed but didn't appear in the USL Cup Playoff matches. I'm not entirely ruling Keinan out because he was integral to FC Cincinnati's successes in 2018 and he's good for the locker room. However, it was undeniably disconcerting to see the 34-year-old parked on the bench as much as he was in the closing, crucial period of the season.

• Danni König – Most importantly, König scored just twice over the final three months of the USL regular season. König should still get consideration for MLS as the club's all-time leading scorer and a poacher extraordinaire. But he was also absent from the club during the playoffs due to personal matters – no further explanation was given – and that's always going to invite further questions and concerns.

• Matt Bahner – Bahner was a feel-good story throughout his time in Cincinnati, but made just nine league appearances in 2018 behind Hoyte.

• Tomi Ameobi – Four league appearances for Ameobi in 2018 would seem to limit his opportunities with the club going forward.

• Pa Konate – Konate joined FC Cincinnati midstream and he was under the gun to immediately compete with Smith for minutes. He was in a tough spot and wasn't able to unseat the club's proven left back.