Richy Ledezma, the 22-year-old PSV Eindhoven attacking midfielder rumored to be a New York City FC target since early February, looks set to finally, officially be joining on loan.
MLSsoccer.com’s Tom Bogert called Ledezma coming to New York on loan essentially a done deal a few hours before NYCFC kicked off against DC United, and PSV itself has since confirmed that the young American midfielder signed a contract extension with them, but would be heading out on loan. Though his next club remains unnamed, it has been confirmed by multiple sources to be NYCFC.
The Phoenix, Arizona native was a part of Real Salt Lake’s academy and has been featuring for United States youth squads since receiving a U-19 call-up back in January 2018. Ledezma was part of the United States U-20 squad at the 2019 U-20 World Cup, helping that team win three matches and pull off an upset of France to advance to the quarterfinals. Ledezma left Real Salt Lake’s academy to sign a pro contract with PSV back in December 2018, and made 23 appearances with PSV’s senior team over the course of three injury-plagued seasons. He scored his first goal for PSV in May 2022, and has received one call-up to the senior USMNT to date.
Since Ledezma was an academy player for Real Salt Lake, NYCFC will no doubt be sending some form of compensation (allocation money? other?) to Utah in order to acquire Richy’s MLS rights. Those details will be added here whenever they are announced by either club.
In signing Ledezma, NYCFC sporting director David Lee will again be attempting to rehabilitate the career of a promising young American player who ran upon hard times while pursuing a career in Europe—Keaton Parks, Gedion Zelalem, Chris Gloster, Gabe Segal, and James Sands all being other recent examples.
Ledezma will give manager Nick Cushing another attack-minded midfield option, with Richy likely to see minutes in the central attacking midfielder role when it’s not occupied by Santiago Rodriguez, or perhaps out wide when either starting winger is deemed worthy of substitution.
This post will get updated once NYCFC fully confirms the poorly-kept secret of their next 2023 signing. For now, here’s a goal Ledezma scored for PSV in a June 2022 friendly against German club BW Lohne.
