This is interesting and goes to the heart of a lot of our debates here.
Entire thread:
"There has been a defining shift in MLS roster building strategy this winter that should be the story so far of 2024. It is a smart shift that is likely to change the makeup of the league for the next few years for the better.
Why are MLS clubs now buying 24-26 year olds?
It starts in Europe. Outside of the truly massive clubs, most teams have begun looking at their roster as a balance sheet. A player 24-26 on a four year contract is a depreciating asset, as their contract will conclude in the back half of their career.
This means everyone is in on 18-22 year olds. The market is inflated, and any player with upside is a target. However, players who are late developers are left without a European market. Now, MLS...with the money to spend, enters the picture.
Lagerway's Atlanta strategy epitomizes this, as does LAFC and Bouanga. These players are very good, but are too old for most European clubs to invest in them. They can be stars in MLS, and MLS has a very robust pay scale.
Now, a 2-5m transfer fee can get you a top quality 24-26 year old. 7-12m can get you a best XI player who will re-sign with you. That same price gets you far less than it used to with young players.
So how do you develop players to sell? MLS academies and Next Pro can fulfill that role. A team full of 25-27 year old players in their prime, of proven international quality, supported by Academy products gives you the best of both worlds. 'This is the way' (courtesy @pweemsatl)"
NYCFC is not doing this. We don't have a roster of mostly mid-to-late-20s guys supported by Academy players. NYCFC has some mid-20s guys in midfield and defense but nearly the entire front line is non-Academy youth.
Here is a list of NYCFC recent transfer acquisitions from abroad and their age at time of transfer. With Martinez as an outlier, NYCFC favors younger transfers on offense and buys the 24-26 year olds mostly on defense/midfield.
Tanasijević 26
Risa 25
Martinez 24
Wolf 24
Bakrar 22
Ojeda 19
Fernandez 19
Ilenic 18
TBA?
[Mijatovic] 18
There's some logic to this. The selling upside for developing offensive producers is highest. The flip side is it leaves you with very uncertain offensive production and based on 2023 I've learned that apparently you need to score goals to win. The other downside is that the most successful younger guys want to leave when they hit their prime, and our plan is to do exactly that, selling them at a profit. Acquire someone when they 24-26 and, as the thread notes, they might very well re-sign so you can have them from 24-32, which is a player's most productive period generally.
Also, if the younger guys don't develop as hoped, you end up serially loaning them out to Brazil and then China which basically sucks for everyone including very much the player. Or you hold on like with Talles hoping he recovers enough to sell at a profit. It might happen, or you might end up like the investor who refuses to sell a stock that went down 40% because people hate to take losses but stocks that tank during a healthy market are probably more likely to go down another 40% than to get back to previous highs.
