Parks and recreation in Lisbon: Keaton at NYCFC (on loan from Benfica)

whaaaaat? Replacing a German NT player on a big German team with a guy who couldn't get a game in Europe? Love your optimism, don't ever change!

 

Hearing that there is still a chance Keaton Parks stays with #NYCFC - he hasn't gone to Portugal yet #Benfica #MLS

— Glenn Crooks (@GlennCrooks) January 2, 2020

interesting, especially since NYCFC is still sans-manager

 

#NYCFC has agreed to a permanent transfer with Benfica for midfielder Keaton Parks and will sign the 22-year-old to a long-term deal, per multiple league sources with knowledge of the deal.

— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) January 3, 2020

 

Anddd it’s gone.

shut it down folks.

 

It doesn't make sense to me because they also picked up Gedion Zelalem from Kansas City. Why would NY pick up two similar players?

 

They also released Ofori, making their midfield fairly thin. Also, Zelalem was bad for SKC last year and was acquired for cheap.

 

Because Zelalem is a lottery ticket. Dude was not good at KC.

 

well your'e not wrong but I'd rather have Parks than Weigl...never seen anything impressive from him.

 

Cue “Central Parks” thread title and/or closing of the thread.

 

While the thread may go into hibernation I don’t think Parks is done in Europe. He’s clearly got the mentality.

He’s had a remarkable journey and hopefully he gets his deserved USMNT callup soon.

 

A Bola is claiming the transfer fee is around $1.12m. No mention of salary, but Sam Stejskal for The Athletic claims his deal will be over the 2019 TAM threshold (like around $600k I think?).

edit: Rereading the A Bola article, they might be claiming he'll MAKE $1m a year in salary, but I can't imagine Keaton is heading to NYCFC as a DP so...

 

Dortmund's loss. Good Luck in the Da Bronx.

 

Good luck Keaton! Time to shutter this thread. Perhaps it will come back one day.

 

Central Parks: Keaton Parks transfers to NYCFC ??

 

NYCF is a ManCity club so you'd expect them to put quality on the pitch. The only problem I see is the baseball field they play on. Otherwise, they play in a market with huge potential which warrants investment in good quality teammates for Keaton.

 

So, this is what I don't get: Parks was the best player in Benfica B's midfield when he played there in 17/18, yet he has found no interest anywhere in Europe while the other guys who played around him are doing better. João Carvalho is starting for Nottingham Forest, Florentino is getting minutes with the main Benfica team, Gedson Fernandes is playing Taça de Portugal games, Heriberto Tavares is starting for Boavista, and even Jota is playing in the secondary cup, the Taça da Liga.

 

He wants to play for the USMNT so he knows staying in the MLS gives him the best path forward./s

Joking aside, I tend to agree with you. But at the end of the day he's 22 now. He needs to be playing. Signing with NYCFC is NOT an MLS death sentence. They have shown a willingness to move players using their international system. He will be surrounded by good talent and coaching, etc. But yeah definitely one of the more interesting soccer paths we've seen.

 

hmm its almost as if portugeuse clubs favor portugeuese/EU players over americans even if the american compares favorably...hmmm

 

You can make up to $1.5M and still be a TAM player, I think.

 

I think it might mean factoring in the transfer fee and the salary it would make him a DP but they would be using TAM to buy him down.


Also if TAM exists next season

 

"Compares favourably" is doing a lot of the heavy lifting there. Compares favourably to what? He was good for the B team, but it's not as if he was outstanding compared to the other Benfica B midfielders, or the the midfielders for Porto B, Braga B, etc.

They just didn't rate him enough, and it's worth noting that - unlike before - there weren't any rumours of other leagues' teams monitoring his situation.

 

Ronny Deila is likely to be his new coach:

Here's everything I know about #NYCFC's coaching search: I fully expect the club to announce that they've hired former Celtic FC boss Ronny Deila early next week. A few details to work through, the biggest of which is getting him out of his current deal at Vålerenga in Norway.

— Pablo Iglesias Maurer (@MLSist) January 4, 2020

 

Ronny Deila?!?! With Celtic crashing out of Europe before Xmas in both seasons the fans were happy to see the back of him, and his current club hasn't won or qualified for anything since he took over 3 seasons ago.

An odd choice for any MLS side. For a side with City's resources and their stated ambitons in MLS and New York, it beggars belief

 

Also a terrible match for Keaton's playing style, from what little I've read. Let's hope it's a mistaken report (although as an NYRB fan I would be happy to see this).

 

Benfica fans are saying the deal was for 1 million dollars in fees and keeping 50% of any future transfer. If he shows out and earns another move that could be pretty good business, though the fans think the fee was low.