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 for 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.
