Age: 38
Key Stat: $13 million in transfer fees (reportedly) to sign Nico Fernández Mercau, Aiden O’Neill, and Raul Gustavo
One of the trickier aspects of covering New York City FC’s transfer business is sorting which decisions are made by the executives on Third Avenue, and which are handed down from the City Football Group mothership in Manchester.
It doesn’t help that both CFG and NYCFC are disciplined organizations that don’t leak information or do much talking off the record — look at the rumors reported by Tom Bogert or Fabrizio Romano, and you’ll see that they usually come from the other side, not New York City.
Which is a long way to say that this final grade is for the office as much as the individual: David Lee’s name was on the door (that is, until he decamped for Sporting Kansas City in October), but this report card is for the role of sporting director, and how that position shaped the squad this past season.
MLS | 2025 Payroll by Club*
| Team | Total Payroll | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inter Miami | $48.97 million |
| 2 | LAFC | $30.1 million |
| 3 | Atlanta United | $28.5 million |
| 4 | FC Cincinnati | $23.2 million |
| 5 | Chicago Fire | $23.1 million |
| 6 | Nashville SC | $22.4 million |
| 7 | Portland Timbers | $22.4 million |
| 8 | LA Galaxy | $22.3 million |
| 9 | San Diego FC | $22.3 million |
| 10 | NY Red Bulls | $22.1 million |
| 11 | Columbus Crew | $19.2 million |
| 12 | New England | $19.1 million |
| 13 | Charlotte FC | $19.0 million |
| 14 | New York City FC | $18.8 million |
| 15 | Seattle Sounders | $18.3 million |
| 16 | Sporting Kansas City | $17.6 million |
| 17 | Vancouver Whitecaps | $17.6 million |
| 18 | San Jose Earthquakes | $17.1 million |
| 19 | St Louis City | $16.9 million |
| 20 | Houston Dynamo | $16.8 million |
| 21 | Orlando City | $16.1 million |
| 22 | Austin FC | $15.7 million |
| 23 | Real Salt Lake | $15.7 million |
| 24 | DC United | $14.9 million |
| 25 | Colorado Rapids | $14.6 million |
| 26 | Minnesota United | $14.5 million |
| 27 | Toronto FC | $13.7 million |
| 28 | Philadelphia Union | $13.4 million |
| 29 | Dallas FC | $13.4 million |
| 30 | CF Montréal | $12.9 million |
| Average | $20.2 million |
* Total payroll includes salaries of loaned-out players
Overall, Lee left New York City in good form. In terms payroll, the team finished the year in the middle of the pack, a prudent #14 out of 30 clubs. But NYCFC one of the final four teams contending for the title — while high-spending clubs such as Atlanta United and Toronto FC had disastrous seasons, New York City were competitive on a budget.
Points Per Million | 2025 MLS Regular Season
| Team | Points | Payroll | PPM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Philadelphia Union* | 66 | $13,365,549 | 4.94 |
| 2. | Minnesota United* | 58 | $13,804,472 | 4.20 |
| 3. | Vancouver Whitecaps* | 63 | $15,809,224 | 3.99 |
| 4. | New York City FC* | 56 | $14,963,973 | 3.74 |
| 5. | Charlotte FC* | 59 | $17,133,985 | 3.44 |
| 6. | Columbus Crew* | 54 | $16,355,869 | 3.30 |
| 7. | Orlando City* | 53 | $16,440,785 | 3.22 |
| 8. | San Diego FC* | 63 | $20,033,029 | 3.14 |
| 9. | Austin FC* | 47 | $15,331,947 | 3.07 |
| 10. | Real Salt Lake* | 41 | $13,413,886 | 3.06 |
| 11. | Seattle Sounders* | 55 | $18,088,581 | 3.04 |
| 12. | FC Cincinnati* | 65 | $23,180,135 | 2.80 |
| 13. | Houston Dynamo | 37 | $13,414,691 | 2.76 |
| 14. | LAFC* | 60 | $22,369,590 | 2.68 |
| 15. | Colorado Rapids | 41 | $15,482,331 | 2.65 |
| 16. | Nashville SC* | 54 | $21,751,786 | 2.48 |
| 17. | Chicago Fire* | 53 | $22,052,757 | 2.40 |
| 18. | San Jose Earthquakes | 41 | $17,190,978 | 2.39 |
| 19. | CF Montréal | 28 | $11,993,946 | 2.33 |
| 20. | Dallas FC* | 44 | $18,977,292 | 2.32 |
| 21. | Portland Timbers* | 44 | $19,565,541 | 2.25 |
| 22. | New England | 36 | $17,194,922 | 2.09 |
| 23. | NY Red Bulls | 43 | $21,542,277 | 2.00 |
| 24. | DC United | 26 | $14,616,314 | 1.78 |
| 25. | St Louis City | 32 | $18,106,711 | 1.77 |
| 26. | Sporting Kansas City | 28 | $17,715,629 | 1.58 |
| 27. | Inter Miami* | 65 | $46,836,635 | 1.33 |
| 28. | LA Galaxy | 30 | $22,870,938 | 1.31 |
| 29. | Atlanta United | 28 | $27,627,164 | 1.01 |
| 30. | Toronto FC | 32 | $34,146,193 | 0.94 |
| Average | $19,379,238 | 2.60 |
* Made 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs
To look it another way, NYCFC’s 56 points in 2025 worked out to 3.74 points per million spent in player salaries. That’s fourth-best in the league, behind only Philadelphia Union, Minnesota United, and Vancouver Whitecaps. By that measure, Lee is one of the best sporting directors in Major League Soccer.
David Lee’s hits…
But to better understand the season, we need to dig a little deeper. Let’s start with the hits.
Lee made three marquee signings in 2025, bringing in Nico Fernández Mercau, Aiden O’Neill, and Raul Gustavo, reportedly for a combined $13 million. Nico has the potential to be a transformative figure, a creative midfielder who could lift this team from perennial title contenders to favorites — he’s the Designated Player that NYCFC fans have been waiting to see. O’Neill might grab fewer headlines, but he’s no less impactful, a cool-headed No 6 who can control the tempo of a game. Raul Gusatvo is the least-tested of the three, but the most familiar to Head Coach Pascal Jansen, who worked with him at Ferencvárosi TC – he’s the coach’s pick.
For those of you keeping count at home, that makes Lee three-for-three in 2025. Add to that the contract extension with goalkeeper Matt Freese finalized in late September, just before Lee left the club, and it appears that the sporting director left New York City in good standing.
Another hit is Jonny Shore, the Homegrown who made his debut at the age of 17 and proved to be a capable starter this past season. Máximo Carrizo and Seymour Reid are two more Homegrowns signed by Lee who are poised to take the next step in MLS. That is, if Reid remains with NYCFC: A rumor started circulating yesterday that other clubs are looking to sign the 17-year-old striker.
David Lee’s misses…
But those players only form part of the picture. Lee had a few misses in 2025 — or, to be more precise, misses that came due this past year.
First up is Justin Haak, the longtime Homegrown who enjoyed a breakout season, but who announced just yesterday that he will join LA Galaxy. Haak, who was out of contract at the end of the season, was uncharacteristically not signed to a multi-year contract earlier in the year. That’s on Lee, according to Haak, who said the sporting director “told me he didn’t think I was a 34-game starter.” In fact, Haak started all 43 competitive matches this year, but by the time he established himself as a mainstay in Jansen’s squad, the midfielder-turned-defender was already looking elsewhere.
Is that on Lee? It looks to be the case. It certainly happened on his watch, which factors into the final grade.
Other misses that played out this year include the departures of Mounsef Bakrar and Birk Risa, and the ongoing loan-outs of Jovan Mijatović and Talles Magno.
Bakrar was the striker who couldn’t score, a hardworking and deeply likable player who Lee signed in 2023 for a reported $2 million, and who was moved to Dinamo Zagreb in August for a reported $1 million fee. (For what it’s worth, Bakrar has found success in Croatia, where he moved to the wing and now has nine goals and three assists in 20 matches — by comparison, he scored 10 goals over 70 games with NYCFC.) Risa joined in 2023 for a reported $1 million, but never fully acclimated to the physicality of MLS, and returned in July to Molde FK, his previous club.
Again, for those keeping count, that’s two swings, two misses, and $1 million lost.
The situations surrounding Mijatović and Talles Magno are more complicated. Mijatović was signed at the start of the 2024 season for a reported $10 million to a contract that keeps him at NYCFC through 2028. He felt like a CFG acquisition from the start, an 18-year-old prospect that Manchester City scouted before he landed on NYCFC’s books. Mijatović, who was easily one of the team’s most disappointing players last season, was sent out on loan to the thoroughly mediocre OH Leuven in Belgium, where he mostly sits on the bench. The loan was extended through June 2026, but it seems unlikely that he’ll remain in Belgium, which means that Mijatović will once again become New York City’s problem, and will continue to trouble the team for years to come.
Talles Magno is in a similar position, only unlike Mijatović, he has shown flashes of brilliance. He joined New York City for a reported $8 million in 2021 at the age of 18 in what was almost certainly a CFG acquisition. (The Athletic tells the story better than anybody else.) Now 23, Talles Magno can be a magisterial player, an artistic dribbler who leaves defenses exhausted and out-classed: There’s a reason why he was named to the MLS “22 Under 22” list in 2022 and 2023. But he never lived up to his Designated Player status, and was shipped to SC Corinthians on loan halfway through the 2024 season. Talles Magno scored on his debut, but hasn’t done much since then, and is set to rejoin NYCFC at the end of this year. Tell me if you heard this before, but he will once again become New York City’s problem.
That’s two more misses, and $18 million lost.
Add to that two what-ifs in Taylor Calheira and MD Myers. Both are strikers who were signed to NYCFC II, scored lots of goals in MLS NEXT Pro, and were let go after one year. Both have gone on to score lots of goals in the second-tier USL Championship: Calheira has 15 goals in 28 appearances over one season for FC Tulsa, while Myers has 29 goals in 60 appearances over two seasons with Charleston Battery. New York City is experiencing a severe striker shortage right now, with Alonso Martínez’s season-long recuperation leaving just 17-year-old Reid on the depth chart. Hindsight is 20/20, but Lee would have been smart to hold on to a veteran goal-scorer who likely would be making the league minimum.
No sporting director has a flawless record — you can file the clearing out of Bakrar and Risa as the cost of doing business. But Haak feels like an own goal, while the losses of Calheira and Myers come across as bad planning.
As for Mijatović and Talles Magno, they are costly, long-term debacles that will continue to affect the club for years to come. They might not be entirely Lee’s doing, but they were signed during his tenure, and they continue to plague the club.
Andrew Leigh
Also: Pascal Jansen
Maybe the biggest hit of Lee’s tenure will prove to be convincing Jansen to join New York City. The club reportedly had to pay $1 million to price him from Ferencvárosi, which looks like a bargain in retrospect. Jansen worked wonders with a squad that was thinned out by players who left at the start of the season, then turned New York City into one of the most dangerous teams in the league after Lee signed replacements later in the year.
If Jansen is Lee’s lasting legacy from 2025, then you have to call the year a success. But it’s hard to overlook the long-term contracts for Mijatović and Talles Magno that continue to burden the club (to say nothing of the $18 million spent on transfer fees), and the unsatisfying end to Haak’s tenure at New York City. Those deals (or non-deals) pull the average way down. It doesn’t matter how good you are at homework, in-class participation, and take-home projects, three poor tests will tank your grade.
