New York City FC sporting director Todd Dunivant met with members of the media yesterday to give a summer transfer window update on the state of his squad. Dunivant praised his roster's depth, spoke excitedly of new signings Bénie Traoré and Luighi, shed some light on the Nico Fernández Mercau transfer chatter, and weighed in on the concept of adding a big-name player in advance of Etihad Park opening next summer. As with the interview conducted with club president and CEO Brad Sims, you need to be a subscriber to read the full interview, so sign up!
Note: Statements below were edited for length and clarity.
Trey Fillmore, BlueBallsNYCFC Podcast: What has happened that's surprised you, and also some things you've learned over the last few months, now that you've actually seen some games being played and made some decisions in the role?
Todd Dunivant: "Man, it's been a fun first seven, eight months on the job. I think it's exciting to see where the team is at. We feel like we've made the team better in this summer window. We've had a few different, just like any season, there's been some different periods that you have to work through.
Started off the season really well, in first place for the first three, four weeks, then had a long stretch of not winning league games at the same time we were advancing in the US Open Cup. So we've weathered some different things.
Coming out of the break, though, really pleased at getting seven out of nine possible points and having the team start where it is. So you look at the standings, and you feel okay, but you also don't feel comfortable by any means, because you look below you, and there's a really tight window of teams that are bunched up. We might be in fifth place, but we're one weekend away from being in ninth or fourth or third. It is all very much to play for.
I think we've got three Leagues Cup games in seven days, then off the back of that, we're going to have three more league games in short succession, there's going to be a lot of multi-game weeks throughout the rest of the season. So we really have to be dialed in with our depth and make sure that we're getting contributions from guys when they have the opportunity.
We started off strong having somebody like Malachi [Jones], Talles [Magno], Jonny Shore, guys who didn't feature as much in the first part of the season, step up, step in, and do really well. That's been exciting. Seeing that partnership in the midfield with Jonny and Pepe [Andrés Perea] has been really, really good.
So there's just a lot of exciting things as we are in the position at this time of the season."
Scott Churchson, StreamPunk Soccer: The search for a 9, is there still something that's happening right now on that? There's been a lot of winger focus, but not as much an actual bonafide striker. Is it waiting it out for Alonso Martínez? Is it value to the market? What are you thinking right now?
Todd Dunivant: "Yeah, we're in a tricky spot with Alonso's injury because getting another full-blown No 9 that, when Alonso comes back, there's an element of, can they coexist? So getting somebody like Bénie Traoré was a really good profile for us, because he can do both.
He can play as a 9, do a job there, but he can also play as winger. When Alonso comes back, Talles is a flexible player. He's done some very nice shifts for us in these first few games at the 9, came in and created a goal almost by himself.
Great ball by James Sands in behind. He puts the defender under pressure, strips him, gets an assist to [Agustín] Ojeda to seal the game. That's fantastic.
And we've also brought in Luighi from Brazil, from Palmeiras, really excited about him. Frankly, didn't think we'd have the ability to bring in somebody of his caliber. Earlier in the window, it wasn't possible. The stars ended up aligning and we were able to make that happen. He's a young player who has a ton of potential, who's going to very much help us at that No 9 position. Hopefully, you'll see him very, very soon. He's got a lot of the characteristics that we were looking for. He's got good size. He can threaten in behind. He knows how to play the position, and he's an out-and-out 9. So bringing him in on loan made a ton of sense for all the reasons we talked about."
JR DiBart, Blue City Radio: There might be some new MLS roster rules that they may change. I just wanted to get your thoughts on MLS's growth, and just overall, where you think the league needs to be from a roster rules standpoint to really grow and become competitive with the leagues in Europe?
