2026 Roster and Transfer Discussion Thread

[ZYanksRule]

Maybe there was an unfilled spot after all.

https://bsky.app/profile/hudsonriverblue.com%2Fpost%2F3md3nadjskc2l

Glenn posted the quote on Bluesky. He said “other than that” we have all positions occupied. Meaning except for striker and a defender. Which, considering the limited outgoing this offseason, makes sense. I don’t really have a problem with only adding a striker to the forward group now that Talles is back. We have a lot of wingers, we need a couple of them to play to the backs of their trading cards.

 

[mgarbowski]

We have a lot of wingers, we need a couple of them to play to the backs of their trading cards.

What are the chances that either Ojeda or Fernandez have been working with a specialized shooting coach in the offseason but we've never heard about it?
That's what they both need. Sure, Fernandez might also need a new brain but they both need to start shooting with pace and accuracy while under pressure.

 

[KevinJRogers]

Looks good. He turns 25 in May, wire-to-wire starter, occasionally finds the goal. Me likey, mate.

https://fbref.com/en/players/1ab3d134/Kai-Trewin

 

[gbservis]

mgarbowski posts on scoring has me looking back at the clubs offensive recruitment strategy over the years. Highest goal season prior to joining NYCFC:

Wolf: 8
Martinez: 8
Nico: 6
Magno: 3
Maxi: 6
Bakrar: 8

When was the last time the club signed a player with a track record of scoring double digit goals? I think this is another indicator of CFG scouting continuing to under estimate MLS. Every season we desperately need goals and every time the solution seems to be to find a guy somewhere in Europe who scores a moderate amount of goals and assume their scoring will jump because they view MLS as a lower level league. Sometimes you need to pay for goals. For reference below are the highest goal total seasons prior to joining MLS for non-Messi leading scorers in MLS

1. Messi - leaving out because he's an alien
2. Denis Bouanga - 16
3. Anders Dreyer - 19
4. Sam Surridge- 8
5. Evander - 12
6. Dejan Joveljić - 17
7. Musa - 11
8. Alonso Martinez - 8
9. Choupo-Moting - 10
10. Hugo Cuypers - 20

Surridge and Martinez are the only players in the top 10 that didn't have a track record of double digit goal seasons prior to joining MLS. Devoloping players and trying to scout gems is fine but the club needs to start balancing some of it out with guys that have already shown they can put the ball in the back on the net.

 

[413Blue]

mgarbowski posts on scoring has me looking back at the clubs offensive recruitment strategy over the years. Highest goal season prior to joining NYCFC:

Wolf: 8
Martinez: 8
Nico: 6
Magno: 3
Maxi: 6
Bakrar: 8

When was the last time the club signed a player with a track record of scoring double digit goals? I think this is another indicator of CFG scouting continuing to under estimate MLS. Every season we desperately need goals and every time the solution seems to be to find a guy somewhere in Europe who scores a moderate amount of goals and assume their scoring will jump because they view MLS as a lower level league. Sometimes you need to pay for goals. For reference below are the highest goal total seasons prior to joining MLS for non-Messi leading scorers in MLS

1. Messi - leaving out because he's an alien
2. Denis Bouanga - 16
3. Anders Dreyer - 19
4. Sam Surridge- 8
5. Evander - 12
6. Dejan Joveljić - 17
7. Musa - 11
8. Alonso Martinez - 8
9. Choupo-Moting - 10
10. Hugo Cuypers - 20

Surridge and Martinez are the only players in the top 10 that didn't have a track record of double digit goal seasons prior to joining MLS. Devoloping players and trying to scout gems is fine but the club needs to start balancing some of it out with guys that have already shown they can put the ball in the back on the net.
[/B]

Alexandru Mitrita did have back to back double digit years prior to being acquired.

 

[mgarbowski]

mgarbowski posts on scoring has me looking back at the clubs offensive recruitment strategy over the years. Highest goal season prior to joining NYCFC:

Wolf: 8
Martinez: 8
Nico: 6
Magno: 3
Maxi: 6
Bakrar: 8

When was the last time the club signed a player with a track record of scoring double digit goals? I think this is another indicator of CFG scouting continuing to under estimate MLS. Every season we desperately need goals and every time the solution seems to be to find a guy somewhere in Europe who scores a moderate amount of goals and assume their scoring will jump because they view MLS as a lower level league. Sometimes you need to pay for goals. For reference below are the highest goal total seasons prior to joining MLS for non-Messi leading scorers in MLS

1. Messi - leaving out because he's an alien
2. Denis Bouanga - 16
3. Anders Dreyer - 19
4. Sam Surridge- 8
5. Evander - 12
6. Dejan Joveljić - 17
7. Musa - 11
8. Alonso Martinez - 8
9. Choupo-Moting - 10
10. Hugo Cuypers - 20

Surridge and Martinez are the only players in the top 10 that didn't have a track record of double digit goal seasons prior to joining MLS. Devoloping players and trying to scout gems is fine but the club needs to start balancing some of it out with guys that have already shown they can put the ball in the back on the net.

As I also mentioned, I'm cautiously hoping that Nico will do this as well. He showed signs, but it was such a short sample. It's hard to tell if he's still just a moderately OK goal producer who we caught on a hot streak.

Alonso amuses me in this category because I remain convinced he was an absolute happy accident whom Lee and CFG thought would be a decent reserve winger.

By memory I think the best examples of this phenomenon are Giovinco and Josef Martinez. Gio technically doesn't qualify. He did have one 15 goal season before he moved to Toronto, but nothing else greater than 7 before MLS and I believe he meets the intent of the category. Josef's pre-MLS high was 8 goals in the Swiss Super League . Outside that year he averaged <2 goals in 6 Swiss and Serie A seasons.

Last note: ages at time of first MLS season:
Surridge 24, A Martinez 24, Giovinco 28, J Martinez 23. If anyone remembers a player who made this type of jump in MLS at age 22 or lower please respond. Almiron was 22 when he came to MLS, but as much as he was the engine behind Atlanta in 2017-18 his goal totals were just good (9 and 12).
FWIW Nico 25.

 

[gbservis]

Last note: ages at time of first MLS season:
Surridge 24, A Martinez 24, Giovinco 28, J Martinez 23. If anyone remembers a player who made this type of jump in MLS at age 22 or lower please respond. Almiron was 22 when he came to MLS, but as much as he was the engine behind Atlanta in 2017-18 his goal totals were just good (9 and 12).
FWIW Nico 25.

Does Taty count? I honestly don't know. On one hand he arrived at 20 with 3 goals in his previous season.

But it also took a couple of seasons and a conversion from winger to striker before he started putting up double digit goals. He also wasn't a major acquisition as we paid $400k for him.

 

[mgarbowski]

Does Taty count? I honestly don't know. On one hand he arrived at 20 with 3 goals in his previous season.

But it also took a couple of seasons and a conversion from winger to striker before he started putting up double digit goals. He also wasn't a major acquisition as we paid $400k for him.

I guess people can define it however they want but for me Taty is someone who came young and developed in MLS as opposed to someone who blossomed in MLS because for the first time he was substantially better than league average.

Best case, Ojeda and/or Fernandez will end up in the Taty category. Taty is a great example that there's nothing wrong with acquiring a player like that and hoping he grows into quality. But when he came to MLS NYCFC already had Villa, Maxi, Shradi, and Medina. The following year when Villa left they added Mitrita (23) and Heber (27), both with a pair of 2-digit goal seasons under their belt.

 

[JayH]

Looks good. He turns 25 in May, wire-to-wire starter, occasionally finds the goal. Me likey, mate.

https://fbref.com/en/players/1ab3d134/Kai-Trewin

Yes, as much as I loved Haak for his story and growth, he’s not so difficult to replace - this guy may end up being a like for like or better. Now for the more important matter - bringing in some sure-thing scoring to fill that gaping hole. I don’t care whether it’s another CFG transfer, a network find, or aging blast from the past, we need some reliable output.

 

[BC19]

https://bsky.app/profile/hudsonriverblue.com%2Fpost%2F3mdaoj54jnk24

I hope the links work. Looks like the number 9 may be on his way.

 

[mgarbowski]

Florian reporting the same thing:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2015374157849018788

Many other posts as well including Schalke based accounts and Sky.
This season started a a bit slow for him but in the previous 2 seasons he had 15 and 16 goals in Ligue 2 and B2, with a G+A/90 of 0.69 and 0.65.

 

[SThorp]

At that price and age, he’s gotta be a DP, right? So either Martins is being bought down to a max TAM deal in his option year or Talles is on his way out.

At first glance, I like the look of this guy. And I really like the shift away from loading up on youngsters to players in their prime.

 

[EganSoccerWords]

We probably have enough GAM to buy down Talles, but Martins getting bought down with TAM is probably more likely.

 

[BC19]

I wonder if there a world where this guy signs a 5 year contract and they use the GAM horde to get him under the dp threshold.

Anyways, a good in prime player signed before the season starts. How spoiled we are.

 

[JayH]

Hopefully this signals the amendments to the blueprint with less project more prime and less waiting more winning. It has been a promising few days.

 

[ezbeezy214]

https://bsky.app/profile/hudsonriverblue.com%2Fpost%2F3mdaoj54jnk24

I hope the links work. Looks like the number 9 may be on his way.

Seems like a pretty exciting signing for a back fill. I like the bit about him being used on the RW for when Alonso comes back. Good goal scorers in second divisions get opportunities to move up all the time.

 

[ZYanksRule]

Since the middle of last season we have seen a marked difference in transfer strategy. Teenagers are out, veteran in-prime players are
In. Refreshing.

 

[BC19]

If he is a dp that would leave us with 4 dps. Good. We should be a club who is adding quality players then figuring out roster compliance after the fact.

 

[ZYanksRule]

If he is a dp that would leave us with 4 dps. Good. We should be a club who is adding quality players then figuring out roster compliance after the fact.

I would think since this is Thiago's option year, we can buy him down to be a non-DP player. I don't think the transfer fee carries into option years.

His guaranteed compensation salary last year was $2.1 million. Assuming the option was for the same number, maybe we can renegotiate to add a year while keeping him at the same total salary. Believe we can buy him down if he's making less than $1.7 million.

The other possibility is that the option year was for under the DP amount, but that doesn't really seem like our style.

 

[ZYanksRule]

These two signings improve the floor for this team. Really think we are going to be a top-4 team in the East this year. Nico for a full year, Sylla will hopefully hit, would love another fullback and winger if we drop Juli but aside from that we have a lot of depth all over the field. Three starting-quality centerbacks, a ton of midfielders, by the playoffs we'll have two good strikers ... we can absolutely make a run at the Cup this year.