Official 2016 Nycfc Roster Discussion Thread

We just took 4 domestic Wilmington players with us to Mexico for the friendly - any chance this could be related to our expiring INT slots? If Wikipedia is correct, we have 3 international slots expiring 12/31. I'm assuming these slots just revert back to the teams we got them from on that date? I also assume we could theoretically just buy them back, but we already have the most INT slots in the league at 12, and I'm sure we won't be the only ones shopping for them.

If someone like Mena/Martinez gets selected in the expansion draft, could we then just call up the Wilmington guys to replace them? Are Mena and Martinez worth the INT slot / the extra allocation $ to buy them back?

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I don't think Martinez is available to the draft since he's here on loan. I guess it's possible he could be selected and his transfer optioned for $1M (if memory serves me that's his cost), but that's a hell of a high figure for a guy that's shown he's a squad player at best.

Regarding the International spots... no idea if teams will willingly sell them back but they seem to be worth low draft picks/$50k when leased... and MLS can ultimately nudge a team with excess to fork one over for the fee.

Lastly, Reyna was likely doing his due diligence on guys that showed well in the USL and can be tapped up. Year 1 stock the team with warm bodies/MCFC youth team. Year 2 stock the team with foreign loans/transfers. Year 3 mine the USL for affordable domestic talent. Year 4 (first HomeGrown???)
 
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Either way, we have 3 INT slots disappearing on 12/31, and we will either have to buy them back, buy different ones, or allow an INT to be drafted and replace with a call up? I guess that was my main question.
 
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Don't forget that both Harrison and Johansen are rumored to be in the middle of the green card process. Plus Lampard's presumed retirement. So we have three international spots expiring, but two potential green cards incoming, two international loans expiring, and another international player likely retiring. So we could be down to nine slots in January, but have only seven international players.
 
Don't forget that both Harrison and Johansen are rumored to be in the middle of the green card process. Plus Lampard's presumed retirement. So we have three international spots expiring, but two potential green cards incoming, two international loans expiring, and another international player likely retiring. So we could be down to nine slots in January, but have only seven international players.
Which international player is retiring - Lampard is going to be signed to a 5year deal just so Tom in Fairfield CT 's X-file regarding his actual position can be endlessly debated.... (I'm just kidding Tom).
 
I don't think Martinez is available to the draft since he's here on loan. I guess it's possible he could be selected and his transfer optioned for $1M (if memory serves me that's his cost), but that's a hell of a high figure for a guy that's shown he's a squad player at best.

Regarding the International spots... no idea if teams will willingly sell them back but they seem to be worth low draft picks/$50k when leased... and MLS can ultimately nudge a team with excess to fork one over for the fee.

Lastly, Reyna was likely doing his due diligence on guys that showed well in the USL and can be tapped up. Year 1 stock the team with warm bodies/MCFC youth team. Year 2 stock the team with foreign loans/transfers. Year 3 mine the USL for affordable domestic talent. Year 4 (first HomeGrown???)

Year 4 our oldest academy players will be 16, maybe 17. Year 4 is waaay too early to be talking of having homegrown players.
 
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Year 4 our oldest academy players will be 16, maybe 17. Year 4 is waaay too early to be talking of having homegrown players.

I disagree. In Europe, players are expected to push for the first team by the time they're 17, 18, 19 years old - an attitude I expect Vieiria and CFG to bring here as well. Our oldest squabs are 15. It is entirely possible, if not likely, that we see our first homegrown signing when they start turning 17 in the early part of 2018. They may start with the USL team or affiliate and maybe just get called up for US Open Cup matches, but I see 2018 as the earliest plausible homegrown signing year.
 
Year 4 our oldest academy players will be 16, maybe 17. Year 4 is waaay too early to be talking of having homegrown players.
Most of the original academy players will be between 17 and (not quite) 18 in 2018, our fourth season, a few still 16. MLS has had 15yos that have been tapped up and played, although the trend is more 17-18 now. We won't fill out the team with half a dozen, but I could definitely see one being signed midway through the year. The last few spots on our roster don't even get filled, and training every day as a pro would further the the most promising player(s)' skills much faster than staying with the youth team - I definitely think we're going to sign one in year 4.

http://www.nycfc.com/academy/roster
 
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Another interesting aside according to Wikipedia - homegrown academy kids are able to go and play college soccer, and still sign on as a homegrown later, so long as they were listed as homegrown first.

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Unless the club / MLS offers them scholarships like Generation Adidas, I could see a lot of the kids / their parents wanting them to go to college first. That could delay their signings even more (unless they were true wonderkids).
 
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Another interesting aside according to Wikipedia - homegrown academy kids are able to go and play college soccer, and still sign on as a homegrown later, so long as they were listed as homegrown first.

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Unless the club / MLS offers them scholarships like Generation Adidas, I could see a lot of the kids / their parents wanting them to go to college first. That could delay their signings even more (unless they were true wonderkids).

Can MLS teams give scholarships directly? Can we sign a homegrown to a professional contract and then pay for his night courses at Columbia, for example? I'm sure it would be considered part of the players' compensation for salary cap purposes, but if they're homegrown it doesn't count against the cap anyway.

And yes I realize that once they're paid, they lose their NCAA eligibility. But if they're already playing pro, it wouldn't be as much of a concern.
 
Can MLS teams give scholarships directly? Can we sign a homegrown to a professional contract and then pay for his night courses at Columbia, for example? I'm sure it would be considered part of the players' compensation for salary cap purposes, but if they're homegrown it doesn't count against the cap anyway.

And yes I realize that once they're paid, they lose their NCAA eligibility. But if they're already playing pro, it wouldn't be as much of a concern.
All Gen-Adidas players get college tuition for after their career (there may be a time limit of 5-10 years to use it). I'd think HG are able to get same deal but team pays instead of league.
 
All Gen-Adidas players get college tuition for after their career (there may be a time limit of 5-10 years to use it). I'd think HG are able to get same deal but team pays instead of league.

Perfect. That should be the route then. Academy graduates are either offered a HG contract with college paid for, or they aren't offered a contract, but we tag them as homegrowns, and they try to continue developing in the university system. Or the third route - they don't go to college at all and just sign directly with a USL/PDL squad.
 
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Don't forget that both Harrison and Johansen are rumored to be in the middle of the green card process. Plus Lampard's presumed retirement. So we have three international spots expiring, but two potential green cards incoming, two international loans expiring, and another international player likely retiring. So we could be down to nine slots in January, but have only seven international players.
Not a rumor, Harrison is definitely in that process. I remember hearing Johansen was but I don't remember where. Wouldn't surprise me if he was too.
 
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Not a rumor, Harrison is definitely in that process. I remember hearing Johansen was but I don't remember where. Wouldn't surprise me if he was too.

Reyna told me sometime earlier this season. Johansen is on his way to a green card. Harrison is on that path too, confirmed by him on the Men in Blazer's podcast.