Starts: 18
Minutes: 1,843
Age: 21
Key Stat: 0.34 assists per 90 minutes in MLS matches, best assist rate of any NYCFC player in 2025.
Agustín Ojeda appeared in every single competitive New York City FC match played in 2025, yet despite a late-year stretch providing key assists off the bench, he still has not lived up to the hype and expectations that accompanied his reported $5 million transfer to New York City FC before the 2024 season.
In 2025, it took him 21 appearances in league and US Open Cup play combined before he recorded a goal contribution, and he then closed the season quietly, with zero goal involvements across his final 10 appearances inclusive of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Even with these lengthy dry spells without goals or assists, Ojeda did still play a valuable role for New York City in 2025, especially from a crucial period beginning with the start of the Leagues Cup tournament.
Ojeda scored only one goal across 43 appearances which was undeniably disappointing, but he became a source of assists as an impact second-half sub following a coming-out of sorts during Leagues Cup, ending with seven assists total and a rate of 0.34 assists per 90 minutes, a per-90-minute assist rate that had him in the 85th percentile of MLS wingers and attacking midfielders last season.
He had a stretch of productivity in 2025, but Ojeda’s attacking output consistently lagged when he was given chances in the Starting XI. He showed some flashes of his promise and his talent in 2025, but not in consistent enough doses and especially not when given a chance to be a starter.
Extremely slow start
Ojeda started the very first game of the regular season, given a show of confidence from first-year coach Pascal Jansen on the road at Inter Miami CF, but Ojeda didn’t reward that faith in that game or in the weeks immediately after it.
On Matchday 3, which was the team’s home opener, Ojeda was originally in the Starting XI to face Orlando City SC, but he arrived late to the game and got dropped to the bench in favor of Hannes Wolf, the season’s first public example of Jansen holding his players accountable.
Ojeda didn’t get outright buried after running afoul of his new boss, but in the early days of the season, he also didn’t produce in any of the minutes he received as either a starter or substitute.
It took Ojeda until July 12 at Charlotte FC, which was his 22nd appearance of the season across all competitions, to register his first shot on target of the season. He’d actually picked up his first goal contribution of the year, an assist, in the match prior on July 3 in a win over Toronto FC.
The first 20 or so matches of the season, meaning the first 50% of games the team played, were when the New York City attack desperately needed another dangerous player to step up – Santiago Rodríguez was gone and Nico Fernández Mercau had not yet arrived to replace him. Ojeda would have been a great candidate to be that player, but he didn’t come alive until Leagues Cup.
Midsummer improvement
Pascal Jansen gave Ojeda three straight opportunities in the Starting XI in New York City’s fruitless Leagues Cup campaign and it kickstarted things for the 21-year-old speedster.
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Agustín Ojeda with his first and only goal of 2025. Video via newyorkcityfc.com
He scored his one goal of the 2025 season in a win over Club León, a slump-buster if there ever was one, considering Ojeda had gone 399 days between goals. Ojeda then collected five assists across his next six appearances in all competitions to build some decent momentum right as the club rounded into form with Nico Fernández Mercau newly in the fold.
He had some critical assists, like on the match-winning goal Alonso Martínez scored in the 2-1 home win over Nashville SC, or on both the equalizing and winning goals in the wild come-from-behind 3-2 win over Columbus Crew.
Notably, the bulk of Ojeda’s damage came once he started playing predominately as a right-winger or right-midfielder. Jansen tried him on his preferred left-wing more often early in the season and he did start in that spot in Leagues Cup while Hannes Wolf’s minutes were limited, but Ojeda’s hot streak coincided with him settling in on the right of the attack, especially when he entered as a late sub.
More to prove
The playoff injuries to Alonso Martínez and Andrés Perea would again force Ojeda into a bigger starter’s role at the very end of the year, but consistently throughout 2025, his attacking production lagged when he was in the Starting XI. Ojeda made 18 starts and had one goal and two assists, but put just six combined shots on target across his 18 starts.
In 2025, Ojeda rated decently when compared to other MLS wingers and attacking midfielders when it came to progressing the ball and being a defensive disruptor. Ojeda was in the 92nd percentile with 10.92 progressive passes received per 90 minutes, in the 89th percentile with 4.49 progressive carries per-90, and both his tackles won and interceptions per-90 had him in the 84th percentile of similar MLS players.
When he’s out there, Ojeda does things that help New York City when in possession and when out of possession, and his speed and directness can pose opponents problems in moments, but he’s still not been the type of consistent attacking threat he was expected to be when he arrived from Racing Club in Argentina. Ojeda moves into his third season with the team in 2026 with questions still hovering around him.
His minutes and usage increased in 2025 under Pascal Jansen, but his output in front of goal still left something to be desired. It’s not as though Ojeda brought nothing to the table, but it remains unclear if he’s capable of stepping into a bigger and more productive role with New York City FC. Had he taken more of a performance leap in 2025, it might have softened some of the blow of the team losing its leading goalscorer for much of the 2026 season.
