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The City Hall ceremony honoring New York City FC winning the 2021 MLS Cup won't take place until tomorrow, but the club’s front office is already making roster moves for the 2022 season.
Earlier today, NYCFC announced that Héber, Midfielders Nicolás Acevedo, and Gedion Zelalem agreed to new contracts, and that the club exercised the options for Justin Haak, Cody Mizell, Vuk Latinovich, and Ismael Tajouri-Shradi. In addition, NYCFC stated that it is currently in discussions on a contact an extension with Maxi Moralez.
NYCFC also announced that it declined the options for Jesús Medina, Juan Pablo Torres, Gudi Thórarinsson, and Tony Rocha.
Medina was the tireless, sometimes mystifying strike partner for Golden Boot winner Taty Castellanos this year. Medina signed with NYCFC as a Young Designated Player in 2017, and started playing in the 2018 season. A regular starter under manager Ronny Deila, Medina scored nine goals in 2021. But more than that, he did the dirty work that helped Castellanos become the most potent striker in MLS, functioning as something like a holding forward.
The roster moves come right before the MLS Expansion Draft set to take place tomorrow.
The following players are unprotected for the Expansion Draft:
Malte Amundsen, Vuk Latinovich, Jesús Medina, Alexandru Mitrita, Cody Mizell, Maxi Moralez, Tony Rocha, Ismael Tajouri-Shradi, Gudmundur Thórarinsson, Anton Tinnerholm, Juan Pablo Torres.
The following players are under contract for the 2022 season:
Goalkeepers (3): Luis Barraza, Sean Johnson, Cody Mizell
Defenders (8): Malte Amundsen, Alex Callens, Maxime Chanot, Chris Gloster, Tayvon Gray, Vuk Latinovich, Christian McFarlane, Anton Tinnerholm
Midfielders (7): Nicolás Acevedo, Justin Haak, Alfredo Morales, Keaton Parks, Santiago Rodríguez, James Sands, Gedion Zelalem
Forwards (7): Thiago Andrade, Valentin Castellanos, Héber, Andres Jasson, Talles Magno, Alexandru Mitriță, Ismael Tajouri-Shradi