New York City FC announced a flurry of roster moves on Friday ahead of the 2016 MLS season, declining the contract options for Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Jeb Brovsky, Ned Grabavoy and Pablo Alvarez, while picking up the options on 10 others.
That list of players features Josh Saunders, Eirik Johansen, RJ Allen, Connor Brandt, Mehdi Ballouchy, Kwadwo Poku, Tommy McNamara, Tony Taylor, Khiry Shelton and Patrick Mullins.
Grabavoy will be eligible for Free Agency, while Watson-Siriboe and Brovsky can opt to participate in Major League Soccer's Re-Entry Process.
Angelino (Manchester City), Shay Facey (Manchester City), Ryan Meara (New York Red Bulls) and Javier Calle (Deportivo Independiente Medellin) have all returned to their original clubs after the expiration of their respective loan periods, while Sebastian Velasquez's contract has expired.
"We’d like to sincerely thank those players for their contributions for the club's historic inaugural season," said NYCFC sporting director Claudio Reyna in a statement. "We wish them the very best of luck in the future."
The following NYCFC players are already under contract for 2016: Andoni Iraola, Chris Wingert, Jason Hernandez, Jefferson Mena, Andrew Jacobson, Andrea Pirlo, Mix Diskerud, Frank Lampard and David Villa.
- Find more NYCFC news and notes at NYCFC.com
The club also announced the travelling roster for City's upcoming friendly in Puerto Rico. The team will arrive in Puerto Rico on Sunday Dec. 6 and will enjoy a week of warm-weather training before taking on the Puerto Rican national team on Friday, December 11at the Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium in Bayamón at 7 pm ET.
Full traveling roster:
GOALKEEPERS: Josh Saunders, Eirik Johansen, Andre Rawls
DEFENDERS: Andoni Iraola, Jefferson Mena, Jason Hernandez, Chris Wingert, RJ Allen, Connor Brandt, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado
MIDFIELDERS: Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo, Mix Diskerud, Andrew Jacobson, Kwadwo Poku, Thomas McNamara, Mehdi Ballouchy
FORWARDS: David Villa, Patrick Mullins, Khiry Shelton, Tony Taylor
*trialist
