The former Tampa Bay Rowdies stars bring more than 45,000 minutes of professional soccer experience to Las Vegas.
In a world that’s becoming increasingly focused on wonderkids and “who’s got next,” one thing holds true: experience is the glue that brings a squad together through thick and thin.
Unfortunately for the Lights, the deep knowledge and leadership skills that veteran players attain after years of glory, despair, and whatever comes in between were absent for most of the 2025 season. The team’s squad was young, talented, and ambitious, but lacked the know-how to endure moments of distress.
In an interview with John Morrissey from Backheeled, Las Vegas Lights Sporting Director Gianleonardo Neglia was transparent with his evaluation of the season.
“In my eagerness this year to go and find younger guys and have a dynamic and youthful roster, I undervalued the importance of having a group of veterans,” he said. “We will always be a club that will be predominantly younger, but…one of my takeaways [from the 2025 season] will be the importance of having that presence in the room. We want to be a developmental team, but we don’t want to be a developmental team in lieu of results.”
After the season, he dove a bit deeper on this sentiment in Episode 27 of The Lights Lounge.
“Even in the best of seasons, things will go wrong,” he said. “And when things start to go wrong, you really lean on that experience and leadership to get you through those hard times. And when those hard times hit this year, we just didn’t have that.”
Neglia got to work addressing that this offseason – and quickly.
On the first week of December, the Lights made official the signings of Benjamin Ofeimu, who has made more than 100 appearances in the USL Championship with Miami FC and Indy Eleven, and Jared Mazzola, a promising 26-year-old goalkeeper who already knows what it’s like to guide his side to a USL Cup final.
The following week, the club announced two USL veterans as the latest additions to the 2026 squad build: Aaron Guillen and Manuel Arteaga.
Hailing from the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Guillen and Arteaga bring more than 45,000 minutes of experience across US, European, and South American soccer. The minutes played, goals scored, and trophies lifted translate into a valuable understanding of the volatile nature of the game and solid leadership, assets that will become all the more valuable as the team heads into 2026 aiming for a healthy balance between youth and experience.
Aaron Guillen: USL veteran, Tampa Bay Rowdies legend
Aaron Guillen is as experienced as they come. After making his professional debut for FC Dallas back in 2016, Guillen racked up an incredible 23,958 minutes of high-level soccer on the pitch, with 21,363 of those minutes taking place in the USL Championship during his stints with Tulsa Roughnecks, North Carolina FC, and Tampa Bay Rowdies.
It can be argued that Guillen is a Tampa Bay legend, as he’s the appearances leader (196) across all competitions for the Floridian club’s modern era alongside Brazilian midfielder Leo Fernandes. He also served as the team’s captain for four seasons, starting to wear the captain’s armband back in 2022. With the Rowdies, Guillen won two titles: the 2020 USL Championship Eastern Conference and the 2021 USL Championship Regular Season Title.
Importantly, all those appearances and minutes have come consistently, as the 32-year-old has racked up over 30 appearances for five consecutive seasons, including 35 across all competitions last year.
Alongside Guillen’s tremendous experience and proven leadership is a simple fact: he’s a good player.
He’s a left-footed center back with strong passing (84% passing success rate in 2025) and excellent positioning to intercept opponent attacks (third in interceptions for the Rowdies in 2025, with 23). Taking advantage of the fact that he’s left-footed, he can also be deployed as a left back, contributing three out of his four assists in his Rowdies career when playing in that role.
Guillen’s experience as team captain of one of US soccer’s historic franchises, his human quality and leadership, and his capacity on the pitch make him a valuable addition to the Lights’ back line.
Manuel Arteaga: Goalscoring Globetrotter
Manuel Arteaga has been everywhere and has seen it all. His career has taken him from his native Maracaibo, Venezuela to Italy, Croatia, Bolivia, Belgium, and the United States, where he has made a name for himself in the USL Championship.
An early bloomer who made his debut for the Venezuelan senior national team at just 17, Arteaga is a resourceful and powerful striker who has scored an impressive 137 goals throughout his career.
He made his arrival to the USL Championship in 2021 and hasn’t stopped scoring since, tallying 61 goals in 163 appearances for an average of 12.2 goals per season. Arteaga has also contributed with 20 assists, a statistic that serves as strong proof of his ability to combine with his teammates in attack.
A player with a winner’s mentality, Manuel Arteaga is a warrior and fierce competitor who fights for every ball as if it were the last one. Having already lifted the USL Championship trophy with Phoenix Rising in 2023 (where he scored the final penalty in their shootout triumph), he is ambitious in his pursuit of new achievements.
Now, he’ll do so wearing the Lights badge on his chest. His track record, attitude, and goalscoring abilities will certainly prove a significant enhancement to the Lights’ attack for the upcoming season as he joins forces with perennial double digit goalscorer Johnny Rodriguez.
Lights fans’ first chance to see Guillen, Arteaga, and the entire Lights team in action will be on Saturday, March 28 for the 2026 Home Opener against Monterey Bay FC. Tickets are on sale now at lightsfc.com/homeopener.
