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UPDATE (August 18): A club spokesperson has reached out to Hudson River Blue and has said that there is “no truth” to the rumors regarding Keaton being transferred.
Original story: The MLS trade window has been open for less than a week now as we approach the resuming of the 2020 season. And right off the bat, New York City FC fans could be in for a shock move.
Keaton Parks — whom NYCFC purchased permanently from Benfica following a full season on loan — has reportedly been offered to other MLS clubs according to @NYCFCTactics on Twitter.
In proper silly season rumors, @keaton_parks might be on his way out of @NYCFC. The rumor is that he's been made available to other @mls clubs for the right price.
— NYCFC Tactics (@NYCFCTactics) August 17, 2020
This comes as a complete shock to NYCFC supporters as Keaton only signed a permanent deal with the club back in January. Since the beginning of the 2020 season, Parks has had some struggles with maintaining a consistent form, losing out to the young James Sands when it comes to the defensive pairing with Alexander Ring in the midfield.
To let a promising American player go this soon — to potentially a league opponent no less — into his new contract would be terrible asset management on the part of NYCFC, who have dealt with a slew of key departures since the conclusion of their 2019 campaign which include manager Domé Torrent and Sporting Director Claudio Reyna, who have been replaced by Ronny Deila and David Lee, respectively. Since Parks inked his permanent transfer to the club earlier this year, City have also brought in additional midfield talent such as Nicolas Acevedo and Gedion Zelalem making the competition for starting spots even more competitive.
As of right now, this is just a rumor and hasn’t been corroborated by other outlets. But if there’s further word, we’ll be sure to let you know.