2026 Roster and Transfer Discussion Thread

It's occurred to me that the criticism of our Club only wanting to spend money on young players to develop and sell might be a bit unfair.

That's because teams are forced to do a fair amount of that because of the U-22 Initiative. We have the opportunity to do that with 3-4 players. As I can recall, we've always used the minimum of 3 in order to get 3 DPs.

And we've spent a lot to acquire U-22 players. I don't have numbers handy, but I don't think many other teams (if any) have matched what we have spent on Ojeda, Fernandez and Mijatovic. Now, it appears that we have spent that money foolishly, but I'd rather have the Club lean into the U-22 and be ambitious rather than not.

And yes, we have a DP this season that was signed as an 18-year-old and whose transfer fee is the only reason he has to be a DP. But, Talles Magno was signed before there was a U-22 initiative, and signing him as a Young DP granted the Club some roster flexibility. Since him, our DPs have been Thiago Martins, Santi Rodriguez, N. Fernandez Mercau, and Moussa Sylla - all veterans.
 
Gotham Gator said:
It's occurred to me that the criticism of our Club only wanting to spend money on young players to develop and sell might be a bit unfair.

That's because teams are forced to do a fair amount of that because of the U-22 Initiative. We have the opportunity to do that with 3-4 players. As I can recall, we've always used the minimum of 3 in order to get 3 DPs.

And we've spent a lot to acquire U-22 players. I don't have numbers handy, but I don't think many other teams (if any) have matched what we have spent on Ojeda, Fernandez and Mijatovic. Now, it appears that we have spent that money foolishly, but I'd rather have the Club lean into the U-22 and be ambitious rather than not.

And yes, we have a DP this season that was signed as an 18-year-old and whose transfer fee is the only reason he has to be a DP. But, Talles Magno was signed before there was a U-22 initiative, and signing him as a Young DP granted the Club some roster flexibility. Since him, our DPs have been Thiago Martins, Santi Rodriguez, N. Fernandez Mercau, and Moussa Sylla - all veterans.
Click to expand...
I think we've been around this block.
The full issues are comprised of a combo of poor picks, misallocation of special roster spaces, a slow replacement process, and perceived low ambition.
  • We've had a DP spot tied up on defense for 4 years.
  • Another spot was away on loan for 2 years.
  • When Santi left that meant the club went most 2025 with zero offensive DPs on the roster before Nico came in.
  • After taking a year to replace Taty they signed a striker on a sub-DP fee+salary level who scored all of 8 goals in the Croatian league the year before, then seemed surprised he didn't increase that by 50-100% in MLS (or even match it). But they had little flexibility to do otherwise because of Talles and Martins.
  • Then they spent big on 3 U22 slots in summer 2023-winter 2024 because that is the tool they had, all of whom failed to produce in their first 2+ seasons so far, and they seem to have given up on 2 of them.
This all leads to the lowest 3 year goal total in club history. Then, synechdoche: nobody wants to go through all that repeatedly so people simplify and say the club relied too much on U22 to jump start the offense. Which is true in its way but not the real cause but also the part that represents the whole.
 
mgarbowski said:
I think we've been around this block.
The full issues are comprised of a combo of poor picks, misallocation of special roster spaces, a slow replacement process, and perceived low ambition.
  • We've had a DP spot tied up on defense for 4 years.
  • Another spot was away on loan for 2 years.
  • When Santi left that meant the club went most 2025 with zero offensive DPs on the roster before Nico came in.
  • After taking a year to replace Taty they signed a striker on a sub-DP fee+salary level who scored all of 8 goals in the Croatian league the year before, then seemed surprised he didn't increase that by 50-100% in MLS (or even match it). But they had little flexibility to do otherwise because of Talles and Martins.
  • Then they spent big on 3 U22 slots in summer 2023-winter 2024 because that is the tool they had, all of whom failed to produce in their first 2+ seasons so far, and they seem to have given up on 2 of them.
This all leads to the lowest 3 year goal total in club history. Then, synechdoche: nobody wants to go through all that repeatedly so people simplify and say the club relied too much on U22 to jump start the offense. Which is true in its way but not the real cause but also the part that represents the whole.
Click to expand...
Assuming all of this is spot on (and I have my quibbles, but we've been through all that) the million-dollar question remains: who is responsible?

Is it CFG? Or did they merely sign off on David Lee's decisions? Is what we're seeing now the result of having a new, much more decisive Sporting Director, or does it reflect a change of heart in Manchester?

I keep circling back to Pascal's comment about "going to the board." Whoever that board is, that's who's running our show.
 
KevinJRogers said:
Assuming all of this is spot on (and I have my quibbles, but we've been through all that) the million-dollar question remains: who is responsible?

Is it CFG? Or did they merely sign off on David Lee's decisions? Is what we're seeing now the result of having a new, much more decisive Sporting Director, or does it reflect a change of heart in Manchester?

I keep circling back to Pascal's comment about "going to the board." Whoever that board is, that's who's running our show.
Click to expand...

I think his "going to the board" comment was just a turn of phrase since that's the phrase they use in Europe. I'm not reading much into it.

Sporting KC has done virtually nothing so far which leads me to indicate some of our indecisiveness over the last few years was David Lee, but I think ultimately there is no single person to blame. It's way too simplistic to say only one person is responsible.

I do think there has been a difference in recruitment the last 12 months though that started under David Lee and has continued now under Todd, which leads me to believe the organization has been behind that change. I do think there is some level of collaboration between our sporting department, Manchester, and whoever controls the finances whether that's Marty Edelman, Brad Sims, or CFG.
 
KevinJRogers said:
Assuming all of this is spot on (and I have my quibbles, but we've been through all that) the million-dollar question remains: who is responsible?

Is it CFG? Or did they merely sign off on David Lee's decisions? Is what we're seeing now the result of having a new, much more decisive Sporting Director, or does it reflect a change of heart in Manchester?

I keep circling back to Pascal's comment about "going to the board." Whoever that board is, that's who's running our show.
Click to expand...

What we’ve been told:
  • CFG sets the budget
  • CFG scouting identifies players (both SDs have explicitly cited leveraging CFG scouting and CFG resources)
  • CFG signs off on all player moves
What’s been widely reported or implied:
  • David Lee was unhappy that CFG wouldn’t allow him to sign the types of players he wanted
Putting that together, it seems likely NYCFC communicates positional needs to CFG, CFG sets the budget, and then provides a curated list of players they’re willing to approve. Lee often didn’t like the options on those lists, so he either dragged his feet waiting for new names or zeroed in on the one player he did like. If that deal fell through, he was forced back into the waiting game. Dunivant, by contrast, appears more willing to pick from the list and move quickly to fill roster spots.

Either way, the key point is that CFG is heavily curating the player pool.

Take 2023 as an example. Lee likely went to CFG and said, we need attackers and 3 of them need to fit the new U22 model. He was probably hoping for ready-to-contribute players. Instead, CFG’s scouting models were focused on high-potential teenagers with limited senior minutes, players they wanted to acquire before their appearance totals (and prices) rose. Lee knew reinforcements were urgently needed (Sims was literally emailing fans promising them), so he begrudgingly selected from that list and then tried to hedge by adding Wolf, Alonso, and Bakrar from other channels or different lists. That context helps explain why Lee later said the U22s weren’t really his picks but the other like Martinez were. Maybe the reason Lee claimed extra credit for Martinez is that he wasn't on a list and Lee combed CFG rosters, found him and specifically asked for him.

A second, more speculative data point is the somewhat strange patterning in our signings, which to me implies CFG scouting “value” trends. A few years ago, the sweet spot was 20–24-year-old South Americans with a couple of seasons under their belts (Taty, Santi, Acevedo, Gabby, Magno, Thiago A.). Then it shifted to teenagers with fewer than 40 career starts. Now the trend appears to be high-performing mid-20s players from top European second-division clubs.

It’s a small sample and admittedly speculative, but it suggests the kind of centralized, trend-driven decision-making you’d expect from a large corporate football group trying to stay ahead of the market.
 
ZYanksRule said:
I think his "going to the board" comment was just a turn of phrase since that's the phrase they use in Europe. I'm not reading much into it.

Sporting KC has done virtually nothing so far which leads me to indicate some of our indecisiveness over the last few years was David Lee, but I think ultimately there is no single person to blame. It's way too simplistic to say only one person is responsible.

I do think there has been a difference in recruitment the last 12 months though that started under David Lee and has continued now under Todd, which leads me to believe the organization has been behind that change. I do think there is some level of collaboration between our sporting department, Manchester, and whoever controls the finances whether that's Marty Edelman, Brad Sims, or CFG.
Click to expand...
More non-blame fixing ideas I hold to:

I don't blame anyone for Magno. That was a gamble worth taking under unique circumstances.
I also give at least a partial pass for Martins since they signed him under rules that would have allowed him to be bought down the next year but MLS changed those rules.
I do blame the organization for re-signing Santi who they knew would want to leave again and not being ready to replace him sooner, and someone is at fault for the U22 0-fer but we'll probably never know who.

I also think it's hard to assign credit for the sudden shift to moving quickly including even in the winter window. Dunivant gets it under the principle that you get both credit and blame for what happens when you're in charge. But other factors are in play: This could be
  • the start of a push to get the roster in shape before the stadium opens
  • maybe Lee really did complain about the restrictions and when he left CFG realized they needed to allow more local control
  • maybe Dunivant saw what Lee had to deal with and demanded more local control as a condition
  • maybe with the schedule flip they figure they'll never have to deal with the misaligned windows again and YOLO one last time.
 
mgarbowski said:
More non-blame fixing ideas I hold to:

I don't blame anyone for Magno. That was a gamble worth taking under unique circumstances.
I also give at least a partial pass for Martins since they signed him under rules that would have allowed him to be bought down the next year but MLS changed those rules.
I do blame the organization for re-signing Santi who they knew would want to leave again and not being ready to replace him sooner, and someone is at fault for the U22 0-fer but we'll probably never know who.

I also think it's hard to assign credit for the sudden shift to moving quickly including even in the winter window. Dunivant gets it under the principle that you get both credit and blame for what happens when you're in charge. But other factors are in play: This could be
  • the start of a push to get the roster in shape before the stadium opens
  • maybe Lee really did complain about the restrictions and when he left CFG realized they needed to allow more local control
  • maybe Dunivant saw what Lee had to deal with and demanded more local control as a condition
  • maybe with the schedule flip they figure they'll never have to deal with the misaligned windows again and YOLO one last time.
Click to expand...

One more possible factor, and the one I hope is true because it portends the best for the future:

They saw their previous strategy wasn't working and made an adjustment.
 
Cold water bucket:

Since last summer we replaced:
Sands with O'Neill
Santi with Nico
Martinez with Sylla, and
Haak with Trewin

I'm not convinced this nets out to a substantial upgrade. All we've done with a pair of relatively quick moves this week is fill new holes and rebuild the 2024 team that scored 1.6 goals per game, which is exactly what we scored late 2025 after Nico showed up. Until Martinez returns, and we can play both he and Sylla together, I see this as the same middling to good team we saw in 2024-25.

OTOH if we replace all or some of Jovan, Fernandez and Bakrar before the window closes and hit on those then we actually have some upgrades I can get excited about. Other avenues for improvement include if Malachi recovers and is effective, or Ojeda or Talles start producing at a level everyone hopes but not many expect. Reid is another wildcard with solid upside. I'm not doom and gloom, but I'm not ready to declare the good times back.
 
ZYanksRule said:
One more possible factor, and the one I hope is true because it portends the best for the future:

They saw their previous strategy wasn't working and made an adjustment.
Click to expand...

Agreed and more than anything I hope this is a permeant shift to valuing the entire season and not throwing away 2/3rds of the season with massive holes in the roster as if the only thing that matters is the playoffs.

For the first time in years we have a complete enough roster to compete for a decent playoff seed and maybe make some noise in the USOC and/or Leagues Cup. It feels absurd that they set the bar so low that not having giant holes in the roster to start the season feels like a significant accomplishment, but given the last 4 years its a massive step in the right direction.
 
mgarbowski said:
Cold water bucket:

Since last summer we replaced:
Sands with O'Neill
Santi with Nico
Martinez with Sylla, and
Haak with Trewin

I'm not convinced this nets out to a substantial upgrade. All we've done with a pair of relatively quick moves this week is fill new holes and rebuild the 2024 team that scored 1.6 goals per game, which is exactly what we scored late 2025 after Nico showed up. Until Martinez returns, and we can play both he and Sylla together, I see this as the same middling to good team we saw in 2024-25.

OTOH if we replace all or some of Jovan, Fernandez and Bakrar before the window closes and hit on those then we actually have some upgrades I can get excited about. Other avenues for improvement include if Malachi recovers and is effective, or Ojeda or Talles start producing at a level everyone hopes but not many expect. Reid is another wildcard with solid upside. I'm not doom and gloom, but I'm not ready to declare the good times back.
Click to expand...

From July 25, 2025 (when Nico debuted) until the end of last season, we were 7-4-0, 21 pts, 3rd in the East and 4th in MLS.

We were not a middling to good team once we had Nico FM in the fold. We were one of the best teams in the league. We are running back that team while giving Nico (and our other midseason additions) a full preseason to really acclimate. If either Parks or Perea are healthy near the start of the season, we are one of the best teams in MLS and are primed for a deep run this season.
 
mgarbowski said:
Cold water bucket:

Since last summer we replaced:
Sands with O'Neill
Santi with Nico
Martinez with Sylla, and
Haak with Trewin

I'm not convinced this nets out to a substantial upgrade. All we've done with a pair of relatively quick moves this week is fill new holes and rebuild the 2024 team that scored 1.6 goals per game, which is exactly what we scored late 2025 after Nico showed up. Until Martinez returns, and we can play both he and Sylla together, I see this as the same middling to good team we saw in 2024-25.

OTOH if we replace all or some of Jovan, Fernandez and Bakrar before the window closes and hit on those then we actually have some upgrades I can get excited about. Other avenues for improvement include if Malachi recovers and is effective, or Ojeda or Talles start producing at a level everyone hopes but not many expect. Reid is another wildcard with solid upside. I'm not doom and gloom, but I'm not ready to declare the good times back.
Click to expand...
We have already effectively replaced Fernandez on the pitch if not on the roster. With Talles. And IMHO that is an upgrade.
 
I don't know enough about the internal workings of teams and who does what. But I wonder if part of the Lee issue / question was his skill as a salesman. Players don't just get bought like an item at the supermarket. They have to be wooed. That means finesse and style and timing and persistence. There is a lot that makes a great salesperson good at closing deals. I wonder if Lee had those skills.
 
FootyLovin said:
I don't know enough about the internal workings of teams and who does what. But I wonder if part of the Lee issue / question was his skill as a salesman. Players don't just get bought like an item at the supermarket. They have to be wooed. That means finesse and style and timing and persistence. There is a lot that makes a great salesperson good at closing deals. I wonder if Lee had those skills.
Click to expand...

There are usually people whose job is recruitment and player relations. The NY Rangers used to have the head of public relations who also served as the head of player recruitment/relations.
 
ZYanksRule said:
From July 25, 2025 (when Nico debuted) until the end of last season, we were 7-4-0, 21 pts, 3rd in the East and 4th in MLS.

We were not a middling to good team once we had Nico FM in the fold. We were one of the best teams in the league. We are running back that team while giving Nico (and our other midseason additions) a full preseason to really acclimate. If either Parks or Perea are healthy near the start of the season, we are one of the best teams in MLS and are primed for a deep run this season.
Click to expand...
By my count NYCFC averaged 1.81 goals per game in that stretch, including being shut out twice. NYCFC averaged 1.44 for the season.

MLS season average for all clubs was 1.45, including NYCFC. 1.81 for the season would have been seventh in the league.

For what that's worth
 
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