Andrés Perea has permanently made the move to NYCFC, as the midfielder has been traded to New York City by the Philadelphia Union in exchange for $650,000 in guaranteed allocation money.
Perea first joined NYCFC on a short-term loan from the Union on July 28, then started in the midfield in eight of the team's final 10 matches of the 2023 MLS season, scoring one goal while injecting some pace and some unexpected attacking verve as the team tried, unsuccessfully, to salvage its season.
NYCFC have seemed to be working on permanently acquiring Perea for a while now. When the season ended, Union head coach Jim Curtin was asked about Perea in a press conference and admitted that NYCFC were still in talks with his team about the 23-year-old midfielder. Those talks dragged on right to the start of NYCFC's 2024 preseason training camp, but a deal ultimately got done.
Philadelphia will receive $350,000 in allocation money in 2024 and $300,000 in 2025, plus an additional $150,000 in performance-based incentives, in exchange for Perea.
NYCFC also agreed to pay the Union $300,000 in 2024 allocation dollars as part of their short-term loan signing of Perea in July, so all told, New York City will spend a guaranteed $950,000 in allocation money on their newest midfielder.
Perea is the first "new" non-Homegrown signing of the offseason for NYCFC sporting director David Lee, who historically has liked to wait until around mid-January to start making additions to his squad.
His re-acquisition provides some much-needed stability to the NYCFC midfield, as Maxi Moralez is not expected back right away from the torn ACL he suffered last summer, while midfielders like Richy Ledezma and Matías Pellegrini have each left the club since the 2023 season ended.
NYCFC observers and fans alike seemed to want Perea brought back for 2024—Nick Cushing praised his "Alex Ring-type profile" in an exclusive interview with our executive editor Oliver Strand last summer, Matthew Mangam laid out three big reasons why Perea should be brought back in 2024, and Perea was also called out as one of five players New York City must sign before the start of the new season.
With Perea back in the fold, attention now turns to other potential new NYCFC signings. Reports and transfer rumors have started to intensify of late—with players like Borussia Mönchengladbach's Hannes Wolf, Red Star Belgrade's Jovan Mijatović, and Racing Club's Agustín Ojeda all rumored to be New York City transfer targets in recent days. Keep an eye on our 2024 NYCFC Transfer Tracker to keep yourself up-to-date on all the latest rumblings about new NYCFC signings.
