Christian McFarlane set to join Manchester City: Report

The Christian McFarlane-to-Manchester City transfer rumors are back, and they return just as the 17-year-old fullback is breaking through with New York City FC.

Fabrizio Romano now says McFarlane will become “another huge signing for Man City Academy” as he moves to Manchester in a classic bit of internal City Football Group business, with an agreement in place for the move.

This follows a March report from Tom Bogert, then of The Athletic, that McFarlane was Manchester-bound, but would make the move when he turns 18 in January 2025.

Of note, Romano’s report is the first mention of a second English Premier League club—Brighton & Hove Albion FC—going after McFarlane’s services. The New York City Homegrown player was born in England and features regularly for the Three Lions at youth level, playing a big role for the England U-17s at the recent UEFA U-17 European Championships, where he contributed to England progressing to the quarterfinals. 

German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund were reported to express interest in McFarlane as far back as 2022, which was also when Fabrizio Romano tweeted—then mysteriously deleted—a report that McFarlane had signed a contract extension with “City Group” despite interest from the two Bundesliga teams. 

Rumors of McFarlane heading overseas aren't new, but the timing of this latest transfer talk isn’t ideal for NYCFC, especially if it ends with McFarlane leaving the team sooner than next January. 

Kevin O’Toole has been out of action for over three weeks due to injury, last appearing in the away loss to Austin FC. In O'Toole's prolonged absence, McFarlane has filled in admirably and looked good for a 17-year-old getting his first taste of MLS and Leagues Cup action.

The young defender is becoming a consistent threat on the left side for New York City, already credited with six key passes and seven shot-creating actions in his four MLS appearances.

His string of recent appearances in the Starting XI continued in Leagues Cup, with McFarlane almost scoring his first professional goal in the boring-draw-turned-PK-win over Querétaro FC to open the tournament.

This always looked likely to be a big year for McFarlane, and that has been the case to date: He played a part in NYCFC II's run to the Round of 16 of the US Open Cup, made his MLS debut and carved out a role with the First Team, and now might be poised to sign his first deal to play at the highest levels of European soccer.

When previewing McFarlane’s 2024 season in February, I wondered how similar his path would look to that of another teenage fullback from NYCFC’s past: Joe Scally, now a regular starter with Borussia Mönchengladbach and the United States men’s national team. McFarlane, like Scally, went on to debut in MLS at age-17, and he looks increasingly likely to follow Scally’s lead by leaving New York City when he turns 18. 

NYCFC got seven First Team appearances out of Scally, while McFarlane is already up to five since making his debut at Yankee Stadium in a 2-3 loss to Columbus Crew on June 29.

When asking David Lee about McFarlane during the New York City Sporting Director's midseason press availability, two things seemed clear: There has been concrete interest in McFarlane from some of Europe's top teams, and there was a desire within New York City FC to give him more minutes and continue to progress him at the MLS level.

5 Takeaways from David Lee’s midseason update

An attempt to read between some of the more notable lines from midseason comments NYCFC Sporting Director David Lee made to the media.

Hudson River BlueAndrew Leigh

If McFarlane leaves, it will be another departure for a highly-touted player out of the NYCFC Academy who had only a minimal role – or none at all – with the MLS team before leaving to play overseas. He could join the ranks of Scally, Gio Reyna (who left the Academy to sign with Borussia Dortmund), Dante Polvara of Aberdeen FC in Scotland, or Dino Klapija, who recently traded the NYCFC Academy for the academy of RB Leipzig in Germany.

A McFarlane transfer to Manchester City would also make him the latest New York City player to move up the proverbial ladder within City Football Group, like when Taty Castellanos left in 2022 to join Girona FC in Spain's La Liga on loan, or when Jack Harrison was transferred to Manchester City from NYCFC. (Although Harrison never appeared for the English club at the top of the CFG food chain, instead going out on loan to Middlesbrough and then Leeds United.) Such is life inside an expansive multi-club universe.

McFarlane's exit would also intensify the need for more fullback depth on the New York City roster, a position group that stands out when making a list of NYCFC's biggest needs in the transfer market.

While it will hurt to have another hugely promising player head for the exits, a McFarlane transfer is ultimately part of the natural life cycle of running a successful youth academy.

David Lee summed up the cycle pretty clearly when discussing McFarlane earlier this month, saying "Our main goal is to sign as many of our high-potential players as we possibly can, and give them a route into our First Team, and then help them achieve their ambitions and, you know, beyond."

The "beyond" part, meaning the post-NYCFC portion of McFarlane's career, looks like it might be starting soon, and starting in Manchester.