Santiago Rodríguez is gone from New York City FC as the club just announced he's joined Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas in Brazil's Série A.
The move is a permanent transfer and the fee NYCFC received is officially undisclosed, but reports indicate Botafogo will pay up to $17 million — $15 million plus $2 million in incentives, per César Luis Merlo — to sign the 25-year-old Designated Player.
That represents the second-largest transfer fee NYCFC has ever received for one of its players, behind the $17 million Lazio reportedly paid to acquire Taty Castellanos in July 2023, which the team confirmed in its official release.
Rodríguez's move to Botafogo came together following initial reports on February 6 that the Brazilian club was interested and submitting an offer. Rodríguez did not feature in any of New York City's four preseason friendlies at the Coachella Valley Invitational against Sporting Kansas City, San Diego FC, St. Louis City SC, or Minnesota United FC while transfer talks swirled.
César Luis Merlo reported on February 9 that NYCFC and Botafogo were in advanced negotiations over the final details of the transfer, with the player and his new team already in preliminary agreement on the terms of a four-year contract. That reported preliminary agreement took a decently long time to resolve, with reports also emerging that there were hang-ups due to demands from Santi's representatives.
Sealing this deal to join Botafogo concludes a winter of transfer rumors around Rodríguez, who was also mentioned as a transfer target of Cruzeiro and Corinthians in Brazil and Estudiantes in Argentina. It also means both of NYCFC's attacking DPs – Talles Magno and now Rodríguez – have left the club, with replacements still to be determined.
CFG's gain
City Football Group's Montevideo City Torque reportedly paid a €4.3 million fee to acquire Rodríguez from Club Nacional in November 2020, but there were no terms publicly disclosed about what NYCFC paid Montevideo to secure Santi's services permanently when he returned for good early in the 2023 season.
The reported fee Botafogo pays to acquire Santi after his four seasons inside the CFG system, primarily with NYCFC, makes the time and money the multi-club conglomerate spent on Santi look like a very worthy investment. Even after whatever solidarity payment might be due to Club Nacional, a big chunk of that $17 million fee from Botafogo will be pure profit for CFG.
NYCFC Sporting Director David Lee adds Rodríguez to his list of players – alongside Taty Castellanos and Gabriel Pereira – who were scouted out of South America and molded into players who yielded sizable profits on the international transfer market, thanks in part to their performances with New York City FC.
CFG will be happy to pull in a significant transfer fee for another MLS developmental success, but here in New York City, the squad is now facing the tough task of replacing its best, most consistent attacking player from the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
What's lost for NYCFC
The move to Brazil ends a four-season stint in MLS for Rodríguez which began when he arrived on loan from Montevideo City Torque in 2021. From that celebratory Suits cake on, Santi turned into a key contributor, starting all four playoff matches in 2021 en route to the team's historic first MLS Cup triumph.
Santi was back in New York City on loan again in 2022, then went through his first transfer saga following that 2022 season, briefly rejoining Montevideo City Torque before becoming a Designated Player signing for NYCFC in March 2023. He earned $1.3 million annually in guaranteed compensation on that DP contract, an amount likely to rise with his lucrative Botafogo transfer.
Rodríguez thrived during the 2023 and 2024 seasons while playing as New York City's focal point in the attack. He made 75 appearances in all competitions across those two seasons and picked up 23 goals and 12 assists. All time and in all competitions while wearing NYCFC colors, Rodríguez had 34 goals (fourth-most in club history in all comps) and 28 assists in 144 appearances. His 24 career regular season MLS goals rank him sixth all-time among New York City FC players, according to Hudson River Blue's new team stats database.
The Rodríguez departure leaves the team short on proven attacking contributors. Maxi Moralez is also now the only experienced and clearcut No 10 option on the roster. Speaking of the actual Number 10 jersey, there's some level of irony in Maxi Moralez leaving NYCFC at the end of 2022, Santi Rodríguez re-signing and inheriting Maxi's No 10 jersey as part of the plan to replace Moralez's production in early 2023, only for Maxi to then make a return to MLS in the summer of 2023 – and for Maxi to outlast Santi in New York. Will he take back that No 10 kit? (Update: Moralez did in fact take back the No 10)
Santi for sure won't be the one to replace Maxi as the team's long-term central playmaker, and it's now more uncertain who starts where for Pascal Jansen to start the 2025 season. Moralez is a legend and one of the best CAMs to play in MLS but he will be 38 this month. Hannes Wolf played as an attacking central midfielder plenty of times during his pre-NYCFC career in Germany and Austria but was only twice asked to play in the middle of the field by Nick Cushing in 2024, and didn’t play centrally during preseason.
Jonathan Shore and Máximo Carrizo look primed to be the next Homegrown talents to get chances with the senior squad, but both remain teenagers, and while Shore started alongside Keaton Parks and Justin Haak in the midfield in the preseason finale against Minnesota United FC, it's unclear if he would jump right into MLS action. A lot more attacking production will likely now be expected from the Argentine winger duo of Julián Fernández and Agustín Ojeda, and the team will also be hoping Alonso Martínez can replicate his 16-goal 2024 MLS season in 2025.
What's next for everyone
Botafogo buys Rodríguez as it tries to replace Thiago Almada, the former Atlanta United FC star and 2023 MLS Young Player of the Year who is now with Olympique Lyonnais in France's Ligue 1.
Continuing a trend for Rodríguez, Botafogo and Lyon have shared ownership. The clubs are linked, alongside Crystal Palace FC in the English Premier League and RWD Molenbeek in Belgium's second-tier Challenger Pro League, within CFG-like multi-club conglomerate Eagle Football Holdings set up by American businessman John Textor. Something about Santi must scream "multi-club-model player."
Botafogo are rebuilding their roster under the new ownership of Textor and they're also competing in this year's FIFA Club World Cup, so there might be an extra onus to deepen their roster. Brazil's transfer window also closes on February 28, so time is a factor in why this Santi sale goes down now.
For New York City, the MLS Primary Transfer Window remains open until Wednesday, April 23, so David Lee still has time to add a player or two to offset the departures of Rodríguez and James Sands before him. Being down a Designated Player and double-digit goal scorer is no way for Pascal Jansen to start life coaching in MLS, but the team's new manager also now might have a blanker slate and more transfer funds to work with.
Santi Rodríguez gets to play for one of Brazil's more ambitious teams of the moment, while New York City FC will have a chance to, eventually, bring in a new Designated Player and likely a new DP attacker, given both Santi and Talles Magno are now playing in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and not in Major League Soccer.
