Who is Christian McFarlane? Becomes third player to join Man City from NYCFC

Deal imminent 

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Major League Soccer side New York City FC have sold Christian McFarlane to sister club Manchester City. New York City FC will receive a sell-on percentage if McFarlane is sold on in the future. “This moment reflects the amount of exceptional talent we have in New York and underscores our responsibility to continue to identify talent and provide the best pathways possible to as many of those young players so they can achieve their maximum potential within our developmental pipeline,” New York City FC sporting director David Lee said in a club statement. 

McFarlane has reportedly rejected offers from Brighton and at least one German club. Transfermarkt understands those two German clubs were Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. With Brighton and the two Bundesliga giants showing increased interest, Man City ultimately moved fast to secure the talented English-born defender. Indeed, once McFarlane completes his move, he will become just the third player to move directly between the two City Group-owned clubs. The two previous transfers were Frank Lampard, who moved to Man City on loan, and Jack Harrison. Although an established Premier League player now, Harrison never managed to break into Man City’s first team.  

It will be a very difficult task for McFarlane to break into Man City’s first team. After all, under Pep Guardiola, the Premier League club represents the very best of European football and McFarlane, although immensely talented, is still very much a project. Still a teenager, the defender made his first MLS appearance in mid-June against the Columbus Crew (2-3) when he came off the bench. It took several more weeks before he managed his first start in a 0-0 draw against Chicago Fire and McFarlane has been in the starting lineup ever since, including in the Leagues Cup against Queretaro (4-3 after penalties) last weekend. 

That Leagues Cup game was hours before Fabrizio Romano broke the story of a potential move to Man City. And McFarlane was unfazed by the potential news storm. “I think he has been good,” fromer NYCFC head coach Nick Cushing said at the time. “I think he was good in Chicago, Atlanta, Orlando and has shown real potential. I thought tonight was his best game. I thought tonight the defensive part of his game was excellent, and got into real good offensive positions. I think he played with real personality and character, and you don’t often see that in young players when they get into the team because they are trying to feel their way out.”

Watching McFarlane in that game, it was almost impossible to tell that he is still a teenager. Considering that it is still a small sample size, McFarlane has completed 83% of his passes and won 57.8% of his duels and 75% of his dribbles. Not the most spectacular player, McFarlane’s style could be best described as mature. “I have seen his personality and character,” Cushing said. “I can see that Christian wants to claim the shirt. I don’t want guys to come in and wear the shirt, I want them to own it and earn it. He has been working incredibly hard on the training pitch.” Those attributes will help him at Man City or another European club.