New York City FC reportedly pursuing Malmo midfielder Anders Christiansen

We’re not even 48 hours removed from reports that Aberdeen winger Gary Mackay-Steven has had a physical to facilitate a move to New York City FC this summer. And already, another “trumor” has begun to make the rounds.

Earlier this week, SportExpressen reported that Malmo FF had received a transfer bid from an unnamed MLS club for midfielder Anders Christiansen. Yesterday, Sydsvenskan followed up on this by claiming that the MLS club in question is indeed NYCFC.

The latter story was hidden behind a paywall so I cannot clarify what exactly is being reported. However, NYCFC is mentioned by name in the headline.

This wouldn’t be the first time that the Pigeons looked to Malmo as a viable pipeline for players; current City star Anton Tinnerholm and former striker Jo Inge Berget were both plucked from the Swedish club last season. And as Glenn Crooks put it in the above tweet, NYCFC has a 50% success rate when grabbing players from the Sky Blue, so why not try again?

Christiansen — who is currently at the tail-end of his prime at 29 years old — previously played for Serie A side Chievo in from 2015-2016 before joining Malmo. In 2018, the Dane had a quick stint at Belgian club Genk before returning to Malmo later that season. Since 2013, Christiansen has made three appearances for Denmark.

According to his Transfermarkt profile, Christiansen is primarily a defensive midfielder but can also play as both a center midfielder and even a No. 10. As of January, the midfielder has a reported market value of about €1.4 million, which translates to $1,592,780 US dollars. And for what it’s worth, he was a teammate of Tinnerholm’s from 2016 to 2017.

Where Christiansen could potentially fit into NYCFC’s current scheme is anyone’s guess as the Blues’ midfield is pretty crowded these days. But if I’m Keaton Parks or Juan Pablo Torres right now, I’d be worried. Like, really worried.