Thursday’s MLS Super Draft came and went and New York City football club did what they have been doing all offseason: acquire more money to sign players but not actually making any waves with a big signing.
It was reported in the Portgugese press last week that NYCFC had made an offer to acquire the Argentine Midfielder Francisco Cervi and that Benfica had accepted the offer. The deal fell through this week, however, when the player decided he did not want to come to MLS, leaving NYCFC with no major acquisitions this offseason. The club traded Alexander Ring to Austin and Ronald Matarrita to Cincinnati. They released Gary MacKay-Steven from his contract and allowed the player to join Hearts. All this freed up the move for a player like Cervi but also leaves NYCFC with the question of what do they do now?
Thursday’s Super Draft seemed like an opportunity for NYCFC to fill some back up positions and at the same time not spend a lot of cash. The club traded their first round pick to Minnesota for fifty thousand dollars in general allocation money and a potential twenty five thousand more in GAM for performance based incentives.
The second round pick saw the club address a need signing Ben Di Rosa, a right back from University of Maryland. Di Rosa has a good chance to make the squad as a back up for Anton Tinnerholm. The departure of Joseph Scalley to the Bundesliga left the club without a viable option at that position.
With the final pic the club selected midfielder Vuk Latinovich. He is a solid player who could play out his spring season at UW Milwaukee. In a club fairly stacked in the midfield, it is tough to see Latinovich as a viable option but that remains to be seen.
All in all, fans are still waiting for the club to spend some of the money thay have been piling up and make a splash. NYCFC have two open DP slots and a number of positions that need addressing. It is time for David Lee to step up to the plate.
New York City FC
Eastern Conference
