Hi GoGea,
Under Preferences there is a USB option to have devices connect to the foreground virtual machine. Would this be sufficent?
Another option if the above was already known, and didn't solve the problem, is that you can add an entry to the vmx file to allow the device to automatically connect at VM start: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1648
In regards to the number of USB controllers - it has always been one and one only.
Hope this helps