Seymour Reid and Máximo Carrizo made their MLS debuts in the draw with Columbus Crew on Matchday 5, major career accomplishments for both considering they're just 17 years old.
Followers of New York City have been waiting to see Carrizo hit this milestone for years, at least since he first made waves when signing a First Team contract as a 14-year-old in February 2022, at the time the youngest signing in MLS history.
Carrizo's rise to minutes with the MLS squad was anticipated and long expected. His fellow debutant in Columbus, however, burst onto the New York City FC scene and made one of the more unexpected debuts in team history.
Reid wasn't even a part of the NYCFC Academy until the fall of 2024 and had a total of two professional games played in MLS Next Pro under his belt, yet there he was coming on in the 73rd minute to replace Mounsef Bakrar at striker with New York City FC chasing after an unlikely late goal against an unbeaten Columbus Crew.
Going from New Jersey's Cedar Stars Academy to making an MLS debut in less than a calendar year isn't something you expect to see for many or any 17-year-olds, yet it's what Reid just did. That he did it says a lot about him, but also about things like the state of New York City' FC's roster, the general weirdness of MLS roster rules and regulations, and the potential there is in being NYCFC II's striker.
Earning his chances
Reid climbed the NYCFC organizational ladder in little time, but he's shown his quality each step of the way. His work upon joining the Academy setup got him an invite to MLS preseason, with Reid one of six players involved in training camp who had not already signed a professional contract.
He looked good enough in training camp to get that first contract, which stipulates he's a New York City FC II player in 2025 before becoming a full-blown NYCFC Homegrown player in 2026. Reid kicked off his career in MLS Next Pro in style, scoring three goals across his first two professional appearances.
The 17-year-old bagged a brace in his pro debut and did it in dramatic fashion, scoring first in the 82nd minute and then again at the death at 90'+6' to pull NYCFC II level. His first professional goal was the beauty of the two, a nice display of Reid's patience, close control, as well as his finishing ability in front of goal.
SEYMOUR WITH HIS FIRST GOAL FOR THE CLUB 🤩 pic.twitter.com/XbqJ1jvsk6
— New York City FC II (@newyorkcityfcii) March 8, 2025
His strong 2025 performances haven't been limited to MLS preseason or Next Pro regular season games. Reid also played a key part for his national team, putting in great performances with the Jamaica U-17 team during January's Torneo del Sol in Mexico as well as in February's Concacaf qualifying tournament for this fall's U-17 FIFA World Cup.
MLS uniqueness equals opportunity
Quirks of MLS scheduling, roster rules, and NYCFC's approach to building its 2025 team all combined to give Reid this chance to make his MLS debut in Columbus. The game fell during the international break so the team was missing its top striker, Alonso Martínez, who was away with Costa Rica. Reid was eligible to sign a Short-Term Agreement to move from NYCFC II to the First Team, a maneuver that gets him to MLS but also limits his chances to play in MLS this season.
Short-Term Agreement rules stipulate that players who sign them make no more than two appearances in MLS matches in a given season, so Reid is halfway through that. You also can't appear on the bench as a sub via Short-Term Agreement more than four times, meaning he's got three more chances to fill that role, if necessary.
It just might be necessary, as NYCFC has a thinner depth chart these days, especially at striker. The team's other recent options at the No 9 spot, like Jovan Mijatović and Talles Magno, remain shipped out on loan and seem unlikely to come back anytime soon.
The wait has gone on into the MLS season for the New York City Sporting Department to replace recently departed players like Mijatović or Santi Rodríguez or James Sands, but those big holes in the roster have led directly to chances for young players like Reid, Carrizo, and Jonathan Shore.
NYCFC II striker finally rises
Reid is an interesting case because he's the first striker to flash his goal-scoring abilities (albeit in just two games) with NYCFC II and actually receive a move up to the MLS team.
Jonathan Jimenez signed as a Homegrown player with the First Team during NYCFC II's inaugural campaign in 2022 and played with the Next Pro squad for three seasons, but he never got a minute of action with the MLS team despite 27 goals scored across three years with NYCFC II, and is now with Hartford Athletic in the USL Championship.
MD Myers, an MLS SuperDraft pick in 2023 out of Rutgers University, scored 19 goals for NYCFC II and won a share of the MLS Next Pro Golden Boot that season – but it just earned him a sale to Charleston Battery in USL Championship, not a contract or a chance with NYCFC.
The formula repeated with Taylor Calheira, a forward taken in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft who scored 16 goals in 30 appearances last year before moving to FC Tulsa of USL Championship for their 2025 campaign.
That Reid changed this pattern so early in his career might reveal a key difference in how New York City approaches player management. Reid's case is different in that he's a teenager with experience only at youth levels, while the three other NYCFC II forwards who left were older (in their early 20s) and had sights set on immediate professional, top-possible-level breakthroughs.
Reid has that youth on his side and is already on a long-term contract that gives him a clear path to the NYCFC First Team, even if he's less likely to get many more minutes in MLS in 2025. He'll still have plenty of opportunities to play and to score goals with NYCFC II. That Reid is already off to this kind of start, making history with the MLS team as its youngest-ever player to debut, is a sign of the team's deep belief in a young prospect they only just added to their organization.
