New York City FC 2025 Season Preview

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Major League Soccer

·17 February 2025

New York City FC 2025 Season Preview

By MLSsoccer staff

2025 Schedule

First game: Feb. 22 - 7:30 pm ET at Inter Miami CF
Home opener: March 8 - 7:30 pm ET vs. Orlando City SC
Full schedule
Watch on MLS Season Pass
Buy the 2025 jersey

Armchair Analyst's Breakdown

Strength: They are loaded with talent, befitting a team that spent nearly $25 million in the transfer market from 2023-24, and one that has a productive academy and a front office that knows how to find undervalued targets on other MLS teams as well.
Weakness: Much of that talent – the most expensive of it, as a matter of fact – basically didn’t play last year. New manager Pascal Jansen was brought in to fix that, but we’ll see.

Key Departures

Christian McFarlane: The 18-year-old homegrown left back has joined an expanding list of NYCFC academy graduates to move to Europe with a transfer to English Premier League giants Manchester City.
Jovan Mijatović: The Serbian youth international striker has been loaned to Belgian Pro League side Oud-Heverlee Leuven through June 2025.
James Sands: Sands went on loan to German Bundesliga side FC St. Pauli, only to suffer a long-term leg injury that required surgery.

Key Signings

None
Full roster

An inspiration for next generation of New York City ballers ✨ Hear what this moment means to Christian, his family, and the New York City FC community.
– Monday, 27 January 2025