James Sands leaves NYCFC, joins FC St. Pauli on loan

James Sands will be hoping the second time is the charm as the New York City FC midfielder has once again been sent out on loan to a European club.

NYCFC's first order of business in the brand-new year 2025 was not to confirm the hiring of Pascal Jansen as Head Coach, but instead to announce that Sands has joined FC St. Pauli of the German Bundesliga on loan through June 30, 2025.

The official release announcing the Sands loan, which you can read here, says St. Pauli has the option to extend the Sands loan through the 2025-2026 season, assuming "certain conditions" are met.

Sands also got a contract extension from NYCFC as part of the terms of his loan – the Rye, New York native is now officially a New York City player through December 31, 2028. This is a similar maneuver to what NYCFC pulled while loaning Talles Magno out to Corinthians – when Talles's loan was announced, so too was an extension of his contract through December 2027.

Sands will likely be trying to make his stay in Europe permanent this time. You may remember that Sands previously left NYCFC to join Rangers FC of Scotland on loan following the 2021 MLS season, a loan that did not go well for the defensive midfielder and sometime central defender.

The now-24-year-old made 41 appearances for Rangers, including games in the UEFA Champions League, but his stint in Scotland was not enough to convince the Glasglow club to buy Sands outright. Instead, the loan to Rangers was terminated early and Sands returned to NYCFC ahead of the start of the 2023 season.

The midfielder enjoyed a particularly strong 2024 season operating in the midfield for Nick Cushing's team. Sands ranked third among all MLS players last season in both tackles (81) and tackles won (54), the disruptive force in the team's central midfield throughout the year. He ends this latest stint with NYCFC having made 143 appearances for the team across all competitions.

He memorably also scored his one and only NYCFC goal at the death to steal a draw at home against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF in September. Sands now heads to FC St. Pauli as the German club looks to keep its place in the top-flight Bundesliga.

St. Pauli currently sits in 14th Place in the Bundesliga and will be hoping Sands can shore up their options in the midfield as they try to avoid relegation back to the 2. Bundesliga – the team is currently four points clear of the drop zone.

James Sands will always hold a historic connection to NYCFC thanks to being the team's first-ever Homegrown signing and one of the longest-tenured members of the First Team, but he's once again leaving to chase the challenge of Europe.

This is likely a move to also help Sands's standing with the United States men's national team, who are still in the early days of their Mauricio Pochettino Era. Sands has made 13 appearances for the national team but has yet to receive a call-up from the new USMNT manager. Minutes in the Bundesliga might be enough to make Pochettino perk up and give The Guy from Rye a call.

Sands might have somewhat cryptically hinted at his second NYCFC departure, as well as the departure of his former coach, when he spoke to the media following the NYCFC loss to the Red Bulls in the MLS Eastern Conference Semifinals. The midfielder was quoted as saying postgame, "I don't want to speak on next season right now, so much happens and players come and go, staff comes and go. All I can say is I'm really happy being part of this team. I've loved playing under Nick [Cushing] and that whole coaching staff. A really good experience this year."

While it was a good experience in 2024, that experience will not be repeated in 2025, as Sands will instead be hoping to cement himself as a Bundesliga player.