After a sixth-place finish and a heartbreaking playoff loss to the New York Red Bulls last season, New York City FC (NYCFC) looks to bounce back in 2025.
Around Major League Soccer, teams are improving by splashing the cash on big-money signings. While clubs like Atlanta United and the Chicago Fire have spent heavily this offseason, NYCFC is taking a different approach: Relying on youth.
“There is a focus on young players,” sporting director David Lee said at NYCFC’s media day. “We have assembled and acquired what we believe is a group of very talented young players. We want to win trophies, we believe part of that strategy, from ownership and everybody connected with NYCFC and City Football Group, is to do that via developing young talent.”
The Pigeons have an excellent crop of young players who could contribute meaningful minutes to the first team this year.
Striker Julian Fernandez and winger Agustin Ojeda, who had a combined six goals in 23 matches last season, are set for a breakout campaign in 2025. Additionally, academy products Maximo Carrizo and Jonathan Shore look primed for more first-team minutes.
While this youth-first strategy gives NYCFC youngsters an opportunity to cement their place in the starting lineup, it also raises questions about the team’s ability to compete with experienced rosters across the league. Though the squad has a solid mixture of experience and youth, including Maxi Moralez, Santiago Rodriguez, and Keaton Parks, seasoned incoming signings have been sparse, which can be concerning for a young team.
“We expect [to compete],” Lee said. “Part of the [reason for a] slow, quiet [winter transfer window] was to give [new manager] Pascal [Jansen] an opportunity to work with the group.
“We have been looking for players, and we have targets in mind, and the window is still open for quite a long time for us right now. We certainly anticipate signing players before the window closes.”
The departures of midfielder James Sands to St. Pauli and striker Jovan Mijatovic to OH Leuven are just some of the names that have departed NYCFC this window.
With limited transfer market activity and a flurry of departures, much of NYCFC’s success will depend on Jansen’s ability to develop young talent — something he’s done in the past.
“I have a track record of working with youngsters,” Jansen, the former AZ Alkmaar boss, said. “[At my previous jobs], I was able to help these guys get to the next level and even beyond that.”
NYCFC will look to jump to that next level in its 10th MLS season. With the Eastern Conference growing stronger, including the rival Red Bulls, Jansen’s young squad will, inevitably, have some growing pains.
The new gaffer isn’t fazed, though, even with a tough start to the season against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and 2022 MLS Cup Champions LAFC. Instead, he relishes the challenge and believes that his squad is up for anything.
“It’s a very exciting start, playing against two top teams [Inter Miami CF and LAFC] in the early stages [of the season],” Jansen said. “It’s very challenging, but I’ve gotten to know my guys [and] they’re up for any challenge, and that’s the way to go about it.”
Although a thorough understanding of Jansen’s tactical system remains to be seen, regarding mentality, the team has a new outlook.
“I would like to call it that we have a bulletproof mindset,” he said. “Always being aggressive, going out to win the games,” Jansen expressed when asked about team mentality. But a bulletproof mindset, in my opinion, makes you work from a standard that you feel like you can handle anything in any stadium under any circumstance.”
NYCFC is betting big on youth, and under Jansen, the club appears ready to embrace the hardships that come with it. Whatever happens in 2025, the boys in blue aren’t backing down — they’re leaning in.
