New York City FC opened the 2026 MLS SuperDraft by picking Ransford Gyan, an attacking midfielder from Clemson University, in the first round as the 27th overall pick. The 19-year-old is widely considered one of the top prospects in collegiate soccer, and was named to the 2025 All-America First Team two days ago.
Gyan becomes the 30th player selected by New York City since the club joined the league in 2015. You can read more about the club's history with the MLS SuperDraft here.
Journalist Paul Harvey tapped Gyan to be a top SuperDraft choice in the comprehensive player previews he wrote for American Soccer Analysis. "Gyan has been one of the most exciting non-MLS prospects in America since high school," Harvey wrote. "He was a two-time Gatorade national player of the year and absolutely hit the ground running. His sophomore year, Clemson as a whole took a step back, losing in both the ACC and NCAA tournament in the first round. Gyan still played well, but the fact is that he’s an international, a very high usage attacker, and doesn’t seem likely to grow past his listed 5’3” frame. I think he’s a special talent and a unique player, but he’s got to find the right landing spot and an MLS team is going to have to put the kind of trust in him that is usually not reserved for SuperDraft picks. Don’t be surprised if he spanks MLS NEXT Pro next year."
You can find the full article at American Soccer Analysis.
New York City FC | MLS SuperDraft Picks
| Year | Player | Pos | Rnd | Pick | College | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 2026 | Ransford Gyan | F | 1 | #27 | Clemson University |
| 29 | 2025 | Max Murray* | D | 1 | #17 | University of Vermont |
| 28 | 2025 | Collin McCamy | M | 2 | #54 | Northeastern University |
| 27 | 2025 | AJ Smith | F | 3 | #78 | University of Virginia |
| 26 | 2025 | Arnau Farnos | F | 3 | #84 | Oregon State University |
| 25 | 2025 | Nico Cavallo* | D | 3 | #88 | UCLA |
| 24 | 2024 | Malachi Jones* | F | 1 | #8 | Lipscomb University |
| 23 | 2024 | Taylor Calheira | F | 3 | #66 | University of Maryland |
| 22 | 2023 | Malcolm Johnston | M | 1 | #26 | University of Maryland |
| 21 | 2023 | Braudílio Rodrigues | F | 2 | #55 | Franklin Pierce University |
| 20 | 2023 | MD Myers | F | 3 | #66 | Rutgers University |
| 19 | 2022 | Kevin O'Toole* | F | 2 | #34 | Princeton University |
| 18 | 2022 | Kingsford Adjei | F | 2 | #56 | University of Dayton |
| 17 | 2022 | El Mahdi Youssoufi | F | 3 | #84 | St Francis College Brooklyn |
| 16 | 2021 | Ben Di Rosa | D | 2 | #44 | University of Maryland |
| 15 | 2021 | Vuk Latinovich* | D | 3 | #71 | University of Wisconsin Milwaukee |
| 14 | 2020 | Jesús Pérez | M | 1 | #22 | University of Illinois at Chicago |
| 13 | 2020 | Felicien Dumas | D | 2 | #48 | Notre Dame |
| 12 | 2019 | Luis Barraza* | GK | 1 | #12 | Marquette University |
| 11 | 2019 | Abdi Mohamed | D | 2 | #43 | University of Akron |
| 10 | 2018 | Jeff Caldwell | GK | 1 | #19 | University of Virginia |
| 9 | 2018 | AJ Paterson | M | 2 | #42 | Wright State University |
| 8 | 2018 | Alex Bumpus | D | 3 | #52 | University of Kentucky |
| 7 | 2017 | Jonathan Lewis* | F | 1 | #3 | University of Akron |
| 6 | 2017 | Jalen Brown | F | 2 | #38 | Xavier University |
| 5 | 2017 | Chris Wingate | M | 3 | #54 | University of New Hampshre |
| 4 | 2016 | Jack Harrison* | F | 1 | #1 | Wake Forest Unversity |
| 3 | 2015 | Khiry Shelton* | F | 1 | #2 | Oregon State University |
| 2 | 2015 | Connor Brandt* | M | 2 | #23 | University of San Diego |
| 1 | 2015 | Andre Rawls | GK | 3 | #44 | Saint Mary's College (CA) |
Officially, this decision was made by the club and not by Todd Dunivant, who will take the position of sporting director on January 1, 2026. But you have to think that Dunivant had some influence in in selecting Gyan.
New York City also selected Georgia Southern University defensive midfielder Kevin Pierre (second round, #57 pick overall), University of Central Florida midfielder Joey Mueller (third round, #71 pick overall), and University of North Carolina defender Luca Nikolai (third round, #87 pick overall).
Round 2, Pick 57: Kevin Pierre, Midfielder, Georgia Southern
Kevin Pierre, a fifth-year senior midfielder from Georgia Southern, became New York City FC's second selection in the 2026 SuperDraft.
Originally from Bluffton, South Carolina, Pierre played 51 matches at the college level for Georgia Southern, picking up one goal and two assists in each of the 2024 and 2025 seasons. His one goal in 2025 was a match-winner against Jacksonville University scored on September 15.
Pierre played as a holding midfielder in the Sun Belt Conference, wearing the No 8 kit during his three years playing for Georgia Southern. Since we're referencing the American Soccer Analysis scouting dashboard, it liked Pierre's proactive defensive work but did not rate the midfielder highly, having him as the 1,251st ranked player and the 275th ranked holding midfielder.
Round 3, Pick 71 (from San Jose): Joey Mueller, Midfielder, UCF
Back-to-back defensive midfielders with New York City selecting Joey Mueller of the University of Central Florida with their first of two Round 3 selections. This was the extra pick the team acquired in the 2024 trade of Alfredo Morales to San Jose Earthquakes, so if Mueller blossoms into a MLS contributor, Morales will get partial credit.
Mueller is a 6'0" 22-year-old redshirt junior who wore the No 6 with UCF, and appeared in all 21 of their matches played in 2025, while making 18 starts and logging 1,320 total minutes.
Mueller had the biggest statistical season of his collegiate career in 2025, setting career bests with two goals scored and three assists provided in those 21 games. Mueller is originally from St. John's County in Florida, and he, like the previous NYCFC midfield selection Kevin Pierre of Georgia Southern, wasn't highly-regarded by the ASA draft ranking model.
Round 3, Pick 87: Luca Nikolai, Defender, North Carolina
Originally from Düsseldorf, Germany, Nikolai is a 6'1" right-wingback who just played 1,783 of a possible 1,840 minutes during the University of North Carolina's 2025 college season, finishing with three goals and seven assists in 20 matches.
Nikolai came through the Borussia Mönchengladbach youth ranks and, according to his bio on the UNC website, played with the German club for 10 years. This was a player loved by the American Soccer Analysis model, with Paul Harvey writing "He is confident getting forward and putting in crosses from the right flank. Although the German was not the most involved defender for North Carolina, he had extremely high duel winning rates showing an ability to make a difference immediately at the next level."
Oliver Strand
Last year, New York City selected defender Max Murray in the first round. The club traded up from #24 to #17 pick to select the 6-foot-5 defender who won a national title with the University of Vermont. The club then selected midfielder Collin McCamy of Northwestern University in the second round (#54 overall), forward AJ Smith of the University of Virginia in the third round (#78 overall), forward Arnau Farnos of Oregon State University in the third round (#84 overall), and defender Nico Cavallo of UCLA in the third round (#88 overall).
Murray signed with New York City, making a brief appearance with the First Team in the US Open Cup but spending almost the entire season with NYCFC II. Cavallo and McCamy also signed with the New York City. Cavallo made 15 appearances with the First Team, logging 313 minutes, while McCamy played with NYCFC II, and was released at the end of the season. Neither Farnos nor Smith signed with the club.
Andrew Leigh
Hudson River Blue Staff
