We are a little more than one week into New York City FC's preseason, which officially opened on Monday, January 13, and the club have yet to announce a significant signing.
That's par for the course under Sporting Director David Lee, who took over the position in November, 2020. If you look at the 33 players Lee added in the five primary transfer windows completed during his tenure, the average signing was made just 20.2 days before the first game of the season.
This year, the 2025 season opener falls on February 22, when New York City are set to face Inter Miami in Ft. Lauderdale. That makes February 1 the sweet spot. Statistically, about one-half of the players Lee signs should join before then, and one-half after.
But the date moves deeper into February if you exclude Homegrown players, who are almost always signed well before the club's opening match takes place (73.3 days on average). Some key signings are made even later: As you can see from the table below, nine of the 33 players added by Lee arrived after the season was underway.
In other words, Lee is a sporting director who likes to take his time. This year the primary transfer window closes April 23, more than three months from now, and given Lee's tantric approach to the international transfer market, we should expect to wait before seeing any new players join New York City.
With that in mind, here are five takeaways regarding Lee's history in the primary transfer window.
New York City FC
Primary Transfer Window Signings | 2020-24
| Name | Pos | Date Signed | Days to Start | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jovan Mijatović* | F | 2/19/24 | 5 | 2024 |
| Tomás Romero* | GK | 2/6/24 | 18 | 2024 |
| Strahinja Tanasijević* | D | 2/5/24 | 19 | 2024 |
| Agustín Ojeda* | F | 2/2/24 | 22 | 2024 |
| Malachi Jones* | F | 1/22/24 | 30 | 2024 |
| Hannes Wolf* | M | 1/16/24 | 36 | 2024 |
| Andrés Perea* | M | 1/15/24 | 37 | 2024 |
| Alex Rando† | GK | 1/12/24 | 40 | 2024 |
| Zidane Yañez† | M | 12/21/23 | 84 | 2024 |
| Stephen Turnbull | D | 4/7/23 | -41 | 2023 |
| Richy Ledezma* | M | 3/24/23 | -27 | 2023 |
| Santiago Rodríguez* | M | 3/3/23 | -6 | 2023 |
| Braian Cufre* | D | 2/3/23 | 22 | 2023 |
| Matt Freese* | GK | 1/27/23 | 29 | 2023 |
| Gabe Segal | F | 1/10/23 | 46 | 2023 |
| Mitja Ilenič | D | 1/4/23 | 52 | 2023 |
| Tony Alfaro | D | 12/22/22 | 65 | 2023 |
| Gabriel Pereira* | M | 3/17/22 | -30 | 2022 |
| Kevin O'Toole* | D | 3/7/22 | -27 | 2022 |
| Thiago Martins* | D | 2/7/22 | 8 | 2022 |
| Santiago Rodríguez* | M | 6/1/21 | -44 | 2021 |
| Talles Magno* | F | 5/19/21 | -32 | 2021 |
| Vuk Latinovich* | D | 5/1/21 | -12 | 2021 |
| Thiago Andrade* | M | 4/10/21 | 7 | 2021 |
| Alfredo Morales* | M | 4/7/21 | 10 | 2021 |
| Chris Gloster* | D | 3/22/21 | 26 | 2021 |
| Cody Mizell | GK | 3/4/21 | 44 | 2021 |
| Malte Amundsen | D | 2/12/21 | 64 | 2021 |
| Andres Jasson† | M | 11/19/20 | 83 | 2021 |
| Nicolas Acevedo* | M | 3/2/20 | -11 | 2020 |
| Gudmundur Thórarinsson* | D | 1/28/20 | 23 | 2020 |
| Gedion Zelalem | M | 1/11/20 | 40 | 2020 |
| Tayvon Gray† | D | 11/26/19 | 86 | 2020 |
* Signed after the start of preseason
† Homegrown
Hudson River Blue Staff
20.2 Days
On average, Lee signs players just 20.2 days before the opening game of the season. That's a raw number based on the contracts disclosed to the public, without any adjustments made for the roster status of the players added.
And it's significantly later than the historic average for the club under both Lee and former Sporting Director Claudio Reyna: Last year, Andrew Leigh calculated in these pages that the average signing was made 35 days before the team's first competitive match.
12.9 Days
But Lee's number falls to just 12.9 days before the opener if you don't include Homegrowns, who are often given contracts early in the offseason but who rarely get any minutes in league games in their first season with the club.
Lee made four Homegrown signings before this year: Tayvon Gray (2020, 86 days), Andres Jasson (2021, 83 days), Zidane Yañez (2024, 84 days), and Alex Rando (2024, 40 days).
John Baney
9 Added after opening day
Part of the reason why both of those numbers are so low is because of the nine players who joined well after the start of the season. That works out to 27.3% signed by Lee.
Some, such as defenders Vuk Latinovich (12 days after the start of the 2021 season) and Stephen Turnbull (41 days after the start of the 2023 season), didn't make much of an impact after joining the team. But others, such as midfielder Gabriel Pereira (30 days after the start of the 2022 season), Kevin O'Toole (27 days after the start of the 20222 season), and Nicolás Acevedo (11 days after the start of the 2020 season) became key players.
And then there's the unusual case of Santiago Rodríguez. When he first signed with New York City in 2021, it was announced on June 10, nine days after the window officially closed on June 1. When he signed again with the club in 2023, it was announced on March 3, six days after the start of the season. He is not only the latest player signed by Lee, he's the only one signed twice after the start of the season.
Notably, no new players were added in 2024 after the start of the season. It was a first for Lee since he became sporting director.
23 Added after the start of preseason
Last year, the club signed nine players in the primary window. Only two of those were signed before the start of preseason, Alex Rando and Zidane Yañez, and both of them are Homegrowns who have yet to make an appearance First Team.
The remaining seven players arrived after the start of the preseason: Malachi Jones, Jovan Mijatović, Agustín Ojeda, Andrés Perea, Tomás Romero, Strahinja Tanasijević, and Hannes Wolf all joined the team after the 2024 preseason was underway, and all made regular appearances for the First Team. That works out to 77.8% of those added in 2024.
In 2022, all three players Lee added were signed after the start of preseason. That included Thiago Martins, whose Designated Player contract was announced just eight days before the season opener.
Overall, 23 of the 33 players brought in by Lee were signed after the start of preseason. That works out to 69.7% of the total.
Hudson River Blue Staff
2025 follows the pattern
So far, 2025 follows the pattern we have come to know from Lee.
He added three First Team players this offseason. Two are Homegrowns, defender Prince Amponsah and midfielder Jacob Arroyave. One is goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh, a 31-year-old journeyman who looks to become the primary backup to Matt Freese.
In addition, Lee re-signed Maxi Moralez, keeping the 37-year-old playmaker with the club for another year.
If Lee is going to bring in significant players, it could happen in the coming days. But don't be surprised if we don't see much movement until well into February, possibly March, or even April.
