The Purge Has Begun: NYCFC announce 2019 roster options

As of yesterday, we already knew that our beloved David Villa would not be with New York City FC going into 2019. Today, NYCFC announced the lion’s share of their 2019 roster moves (thus far). Some of them are surprising, others aren’t.

When it comes to who will not be wearing the Etihad shirt next season, NYCFC announced that it had declined the options for Kwame Awuah, Maxime Chanot, Ebenzer Ofori, and Andre Rawls for 2019. Also included in that list were Eloi Amagat an Rodney Wallace (thank God). The most shocking of roster omissions, however, was that of Tommy McNamara who has been with the club since its inaugural season in 2015 and was one of only two players — along with Villa — from that roster to remain with the club. T-Mac’s exit definitely marks the end of an era for NYCFC.

Both Yangel Herrera and Saad Abdul-Salaam will also be out of contract on New Year’s Eve. While the club has made no additional comment on Herrera, NYCFC have clarified that Abdul-Salaam has been offered a contract for the 2019 season.

That pretty does it for the players who will be leaving. So, who’s staying?

Much to my surprise and satisfaction, Jonathan Lewis will definitely be returning to the club!

Four players had their contract options accepted by NYCFC. They include Daniel Bedoya, Jeff Caldwell, Sebastien Ibeagha, and Brad Stuver. Additionally, City has purchased Taty Castellanos who was previously on loan from Atletico Torque. While I don’t particularly rate Taty in his current state, his permanent move is hardly of any surprise to me as manager Domé Torrent seemed to fancy the Argentinean winger for the latter part of the 2018 season.

As of right now, the NYCFC’s 2019 squad looks like this:

Goalkeepers (3): Sean Johnson, Brad Stuver, Jeff Caldwell

Defenders (7): Anton Tinnerholm, Joe Scally, Sebastien Ibeagha, Cedric Hountondji, Alex Callens, Ronald Matarrita, Ben Sweat

Midfielders (5): Alex Ring, James Sands, Maxi Moralez, Daniel Bedoya, Jesus Medina

Forwards (4): Jo Inge Berget, Valentin Castellanos, Ismael Tajouri-Shradi, Jonathan Lewis

What do you think of NYCFC’s roster decisions? Would you have done anything differently? Let us know in the comments!