2025 Roster and Transfer Discussion Thread

[gbservis]

New York City FC Signs Goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh | New York City FC

New York City FC today announce that it has signed goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh through 2026, with an option for 2027. The Canadian joins New York City having most recently played for Toronto FC. An experienced goalkeeper, Ranjitsingh has featured in over 100 appearances across various clubs and...

www.nycfc.com

Hopefully, this means that the two young GKs on the roster are not ready to be the full-time #2 and this doesn't mean those Freese departure rumors are true.

 

[Alex Da Silva]

I don't think this is a starter, this is a clear #2. And we have the 2 young keepers in the II's and training with someone who has a lot of experience

 

[Fantazma]

New York City FC Signs Goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh | New York City FC

New York City FC today announce that it has signed goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh through 2026, with an option for 2027. The Canadian joins New York City having most recently played for Toronto FC. An experienced goalkeeper, Ranjitsingh has featured in over 100 appearances across various clubs and...

www.nycfc.com

 

[Shwafta]

1 - i don't know the real reason for this, but to me it seems like a constraint to keep some balance in the trade market. either a club has cash to burn or a club has other assets to use. you can't use both or some teams may have advantages.

2 - my guess is discouraging bad faith deals and to maintain parity in the league. say one club has a lot of money so they go out and cash trade two DPs from other clubs but converts them down to non-DPs on their roster and then also has their 3 DPs. now they essentially have 5 DPs all because they had cash to burn. for example, miami probably has plenty of cash to burn from all the revenue they've gotten from messi arriving.

But wouldn't something like Miami already be able to do that by just buying out players they sign / other DPs they have? I don't really see how it's any different, even if they trade a DP in from another club.

 

[BC19]

We carried 4 goalkeepers last year too. He just takes Barraza’s spot.

 

[moogoo]

But wouldn't something like Miami already be able to do that by just buying out players they sign / other DPs they have? I don't really see how it's any different, even if they trade a DP in from another club.

This is true. i'm not familiar with the specifics of how a contract buyout works. there seems to be a timeline and such. or perhaps it's just a loophole? i'm also assuming it's probably a lot more money to shop in the international market for a DP and then having to buy him down vs an intraleague trade for a DP that is probably halfway through his contract.

 

[KevinJRogers]

sure seems like that was the case, but considering we had 3 DPs after his loan, it must have opened up. i tried to find prior rules talking about loaning a DP but couldn't find anything quickly so I gave up.

I think this is it:

During the loan period, the club will receive roster relief but not Salary Budget relief unless otherwise determined pursuant to the loan agreement.
If the player is recalled from his loan, the club must have an available roster slot in order for the player to be eligible for MLS League Season games.

I'm assuming roster relief means the DP slot is freed up.

 

[ZYanksRule]

I don't think this is a starter, this is a clear #2. And we have the 2 young keepers in the II's and training with someone who has a lot of experience

Yep. Straight Barraza replacement.

 

[ZYanksRule]

Can someone who is more rule-savvy than me explain to me a few things:

Is this to avoid some sort of taking advantage of or some loophole I'm missing? Why shouldn't a team be allowed to do $500,000 plus 30k GAM or superdraft spot? Why is that allowed when doing a GAM trade but not here?

Why? Is this to discourage cash trades of designated or U22 initiative players? So that means they can't buy out that player later until the guaranteed term is complete (i.e. if he's signed for 3 years, until those 3 years are over or he is sold)? I don't understand why.


Was mitrita taking up a DP spot for us during the time he was on loan? I thought it was open during the duration he was on loan.


Is this referring to when they can change player designations?

Obviously don't have the actual reasons, but if I were making a guess why they are making these rules:

1. They are creating an intra-league transfer mechanism. Transfers with other leagues can't include GAM or other MLS roster mechanisms, so transfers within the league wouldn't be able to, either. You can either use league mechanisms, or you can use cash.

2. This is probably to prevent teams from circumventing transfer fees counting towards the budget charge. Theoretically, a team could want to sign a DP, but have another team transfer him in, then acquire him via intra-league transfer, and claim "his salary is only $1.2 million, we can buy him down." This prevents that.

3. We had other DPs during Mitrita's loan spell. He was not counting as a DP for us after we transfered him out.

4. Teams can either have 2 DPs and 4 U-22s or 3 DPs and 3 U-22s. They have to declare before the season which model they're using, and they can change models in the summer.

 

[Shwafta]

Obviously don't have the actual reasons, but if I were making a guess why they are making these rules:

1. They are creating an intra-league transfer mechanism. Transfers with other leagues can't include GAM or other MLS roster mechanisms, so transfers within the league wouldn't be able to, either. You can either use league mechanisms, or you can use cash.

2. This is probably to prevent teams from circumventing transfer fees counting towards the budget charge. Theoretically, a team could want to sign a DP, but have another team transfer him in, then acquire him via intra-league transfer, and claim "his salary is only $1.2 million, we can buy him down." This prevents that.

3. We had other DPs during Mitrita's loan spell. He was not counting as a DP for us after we transfered him out.

4. Teams can either have 2 DPs and 4 U-22s or 3 DPs and 3 U-22s. They have to declare before the season which model they're using, and they can change models in the summer.

1. Currently as the rules were, how would this work? Compared to after the rule change. Like when a team writes "acquiring x player for 250,000 GAM" i.e. Heber as an example. That will no longer be allowed if they are doing an out of pocket trade, like 500K OOP plus 50k GAM?

2. So DP would be "his transfer fee is 8mil, plus salary of X = DP" and in your scenario team A would pay the 8mil, but team B would only pay a smaller amount to transfer him in, thus it doesn't include the 8mil for them, and then they can take advantage?

3. So then what is the difference with what that rule says now? Seems like it was already working that way before? Is it specifically the "only if paying 100% of salary"?

 

[ZYanksRule]

1. Currently as the rules were, how would this work? Compared to after the rule change. Like when a team writes "acquiring x player for 250,000 GAM" i.e. Heber as an example. That will no longer be allowed if they are doing an out of pocket trade, like 500K OOP plus 50k GAM?

2. So DP would be "his transfer fee is 8mil, plus salary of X = DP" and in your scenario team A would pay the 8mil, but team B would only pay a smaller amount to transfer him in, thus it doesn't include the 8mil for them, and then they can take advantage?

3. So then what is the difference with what that rule says now? Seems like it was already working that way before? Is it specifically the "only if paying 100% of salary"?

1. They can acquire a player for GAM and international spots, or they can trade a player for actual money. But they can't trade a player for GAM and real money.

2. I believe this rule is making sure that example can't happen.

3. The previous rule was that teams would get roster relief, but not salary cap relief, for players loaned out. This rule specifies that DP spots can be opened. I honestly don't understand the difference honestly. This one is kind of confusing. The league is saying that previously, only Young Designated Players and U22 Initiative Player slots were eligible to open due to a player being loaned out. But NYCFC absolutely had extra DPs while loaning Mitrita out, so I don't understand how this is any different.