New York City FC have moved two pieces that struggled to find their way into the team permanently in recent years as Julian Fernandez and Jovan Mijatovic leave the club. Fernandez will be returning to Argentina with Rosario Central while Mijatovic will move to the 2. Bundesliga with Eintracht Braunschweig.
Much was made of Mijatovic’s move to MLS. The Serbian international joined City in 2024, having made an $8 million move from Redstar Belgrade. In that time he only made 17 total appearances with the first team, seeing most of his minutes with the reserve club in MLS Next Pro. His time under Nick Cushing and Pascal Jansen proved untenable as the now 20 year-old failed to make an impression on the coaching staff.
For Fernandez, his move is a bit more of a surprise. Touted for his talents coming out of Velez Sarsfield, the young player showed his dynamism but lacked the consistency to be kept in the lineup. Head coach Pascal Jansen was able to use him as a supersub at times but that didn’t prove to be enough to keep him at such a high transfer fee rumored to be around $5 million.
Both players represent a failure of the previous sporting administration to dig into the international transfer market. While success has been found with the likes of Alonso Martinez, Thiago Martins and Hannes Wolf, Mijatovic and Fernandez show the high cost of talent acquisition in MLS. Both players allow the club to move forward with the roster build as more signings are rumored in the near future.
photo from NYCFC