Gabriel Segal is ready for liftoff as NYCFC trades him to Houston

On Friday, New York City FC announced that they traded Gabriel Segal to Houston Dynamo FC for a third-round draft pick in 2025.  Additionally, there is a sell-on percentage for future transfers. The trade comes after the forward spent the 2023 season with the club.  He made ten regular season appearances with the Pigeons and even spent a small amount of time on loan with Hapoel Tel Aviv Football Club. The war between Israel and Hamas subsequently led to his return home after a couple of months.

Gabriel Segal’s move is good and bad

In some ways this is a good move, for this will likely lead to Segal getting more playing time.  For most of the season, he was the only true striker available for the first team, but Nick Cushing did give him opportunities to try and prove himself.  Then, when Mounsef Bakrar was signed, Segal basically was out of contention.

Sporting Director David Lee mentioned the opportunity to earn more minutes.  Per NYCFC.com, he said, “This move will provide Gabe with more opportunity for minutes as he is beginning his professional career, and we wish him all the best in Houston.”

At the same time, Cushing appears to be allergic to the idea of having depth at the striker position.  The club can have more than one or two strikers on the roster.  More importantly, Talles Magno must not be considered as a backup striker. 

Nobody likes to think about it, but there is always the risk of injury.  Hence, if Bakrar is injured, then there is no true striker to replace him.  Needless to say, Jovan Mijatović should be announced soon, and the team will have two playable strikers again. There is the question about whether Julián Fernández could be utilized as a striker, but that remains up in the air.

Nonetheless, there should be at least three eligible strikers for the first team.  If the backup plan is to use a NYCFC II striker, then Nick Cushing should clarify that.  Zidane Yañez is realistically not an option, for the 16-year-old still needs time to develop. 

Only time will tell what Cushing’s plan will be.  Ideally, he will be transparent with his plans.