NYCFC teen defender Christian McFarlane nearing deal with Man City

New York City FC’s Christian McFarlane is nearing a deal with English Premier League side Manchester City, according to multiple reports on Monday. 

The deal doesn’t come as a major surprise after The Athletic had first reported the Premier League champions and the English-born, New York-raised footballer were nearing an agreement back in March.

The left back won’t make the jump overseas until after he turns 18 in January 2025 and the 17-year-old turned down offers from Brighton and several other clubs, according to soccer insider Tom Bogert. 

Offers also came in from German clubs in the Bundesliga, per insider Fabrizio Romano. 

McFarlane has been rising through the ranks in NYCFC’s academy after joining in 2018 and signing a Homegrown contract with NYCFC in 2021. 

He made his MLS debut in a 3-2 NYCFC loss to the Columbus Crew at Yankee Stadium on June 14 and has started in the club’s last three matches prior to the MLS break for the Leagues Cup.

McFarlane started Sunday’s Leagues Cup opener at Yankee Stadium against Liga MX side Querétaro F.C., coming a day after Manchester City faced off against AC Milan in The Bronx in a friendly. 

The love affair between Man City and McFarlane began after he traveled to England to take part in a training stint last winter with the Premier League club. 

The potential that Manchester City saw in McFarlane was likely the same that NYCFC had seen in him when they first signed him to a contract back in 2021. 

NYCFC sporting director David Lee told The Post in a conversation earlier this month that there was still so much more to McFarlane’s game that has yet to be tapped into. 

“He is now a more developed 17-year-old with still huge potential to continue to develop and that’s why we see the interest we do in him from teams across Europe,” Lee said at the time. “They also see a player that has fantastic attributes to play at a really high level in his career. It’s on us and Christian to try to develop those attributes and get him ready so that if those opportunities come, either on our first team or beyond then he’s ready to take advantage of them.”

At the time of the conversation, Lee told The Post that NYCFC “hadn’t had any formal offers from anyone inside our group or outside our group” for McFarlane, but added that it wouldn’t “surprise me” if they did start to receive offers for him with the way he had been playing. 

McFarlane was born in England and moved to the New York City area when he was 3 years old, which has allowed him to be eligible to play internationally for England and the United States. 

The teen has made regular appearances for England’s youth national teams. 

The deal would be the second in a short span of time where Manchester City has scooped up a young budding star in an MLS academy system after the club signed 14-year-old Philadelphia Union Cavan Sullivan, who made his MLS debut earlier this month. 

Manchester City and NYCFC both have the same ownership, City Football Group.