The Blueprint: Is NYCFC getting its loan strategy wrong?

In a very on-brand move for the topic of this episode of The Blueprint, host John Baney brought in a guest co-host on a short-term loan, as he’s joined by Andrew Leigh, usually of The Soccer Journal Podcast.

John and Andrew tackle one of the more persistently confounding parts of New York City FC's approach to building a squad: Their loan strategy.

With four first-team players currently out on loan and incoming first-team loanees not a thing since the 2023 season, John and Andrew dig into exactly how NYCFC are using this roster mechanism, and whether or not they're really using it to their advantage.

The conversation starts with a focus on the current loan headlines, including the murky future of James Sands after his injury-plagued spell on loan with FC St. Pauli came to an end. Then there’s the legal dispute that emerged from Talles Magno's loan spell at Corinthians, after the Brazilian club triggered a loan extension to keep Talles, but never paid the agreed $850,000 fee, requiring a whole big fight in front of FIFA.

Both cases serve as entry points to discuss how the club approaches players they want to move on: Too often defaulting to loans rather than outright sales, kicking difficult decisions down the road at a cost of roster clarity and financial certainty.

To fully understand the club's loan approach and how it has evolved, your hosts go back in time as far as NYCFC's expansion era, when they brought in promising youngsters from the Manchester City FC youth system, like defenders Shay Facey and Angeliño.

John and Andrew also examine the Taty Castellanos model that NYCFC have tried, and failed, to replicate, and explain why that particular pathway for players has been so hard to recreate.

Jovan Mijatović, who signed for a club-record transfer fee but who has been loaned out twice without ever delivering at NYCFC, is brought up as a sort of anti-Taty, a symbol of how the club’s loan strategy can go wrong when it involves a high-priced youngster not hitting their potential ceiling either in New York or elsewhere while on loan.

On the incoming side, the hosts wonder why NYCFC is so reluctant to use loans as a squad-building tool in MLS to fill obvious gaps, like the glaring one at striker since Alonso Martínez's knee injury.

In the end, the hosts render a verdict: Yes, NYCFC is getting the loan strategy wrong, but it’s still possible to change course and actually make these moves beneficial for players and for NYCFC alike.

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