Thiago Martins is no longer a Designated Player, but NYCFC has a DP problem

Before the 2026 season, reports came out that Thaigo Martins would no longer be a Designated Player. That would have been the case if New York City FC had signed Moussa Sylla. However, that deal fell apart due to concerns about the medical. As a result, Martins remained a DP as per the initial roster profile that was released in February.

But when the Bronx side signed Bénie Traoré this summer as a Designated Player, the captain was the one most people thought would have his contract bought down. And they were right.

Major League Soccer released the updated roster profiles last week, and NYCFC's profile revealed that Martins is no longer a DP. Instead, his contract is based on Targeted Allocation Money, or TAM.

NYCFC has a DP problem

Therefore, the current Designated Players are Talles Magno, Nicolás Fernández Mercau, and Traoré. Hence, NYCFC is continuing to use the Designated Player model, where the team has 3 DPs and 3 U-22 players. Of course, technically, the Pigeons have only two U-22s, since two others are on loan and do not count.

Nevertheless, there is a current problem with the three DPs, and that is the fact that only one player is an impactful starter. That would be Fernández Mercau, who has been incredible since he joined last summer.

Then, Magno, who was given a new opportunity with the club, has mostly started on the bench. That has been puzzling since he has done well when on the pitch. While Pascal Jansen has been better at handling the Brazilian, the head coach still has not given him enough playing time and has also continued to play him as a striker. With that in mind, one can argue that Magno is wasting the DP tag.

Of course, playing him out of position for so long did not help him. But the Brazilian's contract is up in 2027, meaning that there is one DP with a longer contract who is currently causing problems for NYCFC. Traoré has not had a good start for the Boys in Blue, and as of now, there is an argument to be made that he should not be a DP.

If the forward was signed using TAM, then perhaps fans would be more patient with him. The problem, though, was that the team needed a big summer signing to help them, and the Ivorian has not been that by any means. That is why patience has been thin. And if Traoré does not turn things around soon, then signing him as a DP will be viewed as an ultimate failure.

That is why, at this time, only one player is playing as a DP, and that is a major problem. This is not sustainable, and NYCFC does not want to waste contracts as they lead up to the schedule switch next summer and Etihad Park. The club might have to think long and hard about whether they need to make some changes, even if it leads to monetary losses.

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