New York City FC face an Eastern Conference Semifinal against Philadelphia Union that will be played while missing some extremely important players.
Aiden O’Neill (suspended) and Andrés Perea (injured) are missing from the midfield, but most significant of all, Alonso Martínez and his 21 goals scored in 2025 (in all competitions) will also be out for the trip to Philadelphia and for many months that follow it.
“Next man up” is a go-to phrase in situations like this, but as Pascal Jansen pieces a lineup together to face the Union, his options lean more toward Play the Kids. The depth New York City have left to fill in for its newly-absent trio skews young — like teenagers-only young. Agustín Ojeda and Julián Fernández are the relative elder statesmen on the bench at age-21, and neither represents a like-for-like striker replacement for Martínez.
The recent choices the club made at striker leave Seymour Reid, the 17-year-old Jamaica international, as the only other out-and-out No 9 left on the New York City first-team roster. Striker could have been a position of depth for New York City, but recently the club jettisoned all would-be Martínez backups or replacements.
John Baney
No Mounsef, no Jovan
That covers Mounsef Bakrar, who left most recently during this past summer’s transfer window when interest materialized from Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia. Before him, there was also the failed Jovan Mijatović signing, with the then-18-year-old spending one fruitless season in New York City in 2024 before joining OH Leuven in Belgium on loan, where he remains.
Bakrar looks rejuvenated playing back in Croatia, with the Algerian scoring eight goals in 15 appearances in all competitions for Dinamo Zagreb, who have primarily used New York City’s former No 9 out on the right-wing since signing him in August. Mijatović hasn’t produced much with Leuven, one assist in 12 league appearances this season, and just one goal scored across 20 combined appearances for OH Leuven spread across both his loan spells with the club.
This is not to say that these were bad moves by now-departed NYCFC Sporting Director, David Lee. But both Bakrar and Mijatović were once in a position to fill the role of NYCFC striker at a moment of need like this one.
NYCFC II's best goal-scorers now in USL Championship
The second team isn’t going to provide much obvious help, either, thanks to two other recent departures. New York City picked promising collegiate forwards in back-to-back installments of the MLS SuperDraft in 2023 and 2024 in MD Myers and Taylor Calheira.
The two followed essentially the same path. Both broke out with NYCFC II, not only leading the team in goals but rising to the top of the MLS NEXT Pro scoresheet. Both were immediately sold to USL Championship teams after just one season with NYCFC II. And both continue to excel while playing one division below MLS, with Calheira set to play for the USL Championship title with FC Tulsa to cap off a 2025 season in which he has 21 goals and four assists in 38 appearances across all competitions for the Oklahoma club.
Myers has 29 goals scored across 60 USL Championship appearances spanning two seasons spent with Charleston Battery, the team he joined in an undisclosed transfer from NYCFC II following a 2023 season in which he won a share of MLS Next Pro’s Golden Boot with 19 goals.
