CINCINNATI — FC Cincinnati announced several roster decisions Wednesday regarding which players could remain on the team in the coming 2020 season.
Several players have already been signed to contracts that extend into next year, so those players are already set to don the orange and blue for another season. Other players are open to signing a new contract, either with FCC or another team, and some have already had their contract option signed for 2020. But some players from the team won't be taking the field for Cincinnati next season.
As it stands currently, 16 players were already contracted for 2020 and are guaranteed to return:
- Fanendo Adi (F)
- Fatai Alashe (M)
- Frankie Amaya (M)
- Leonardo Bertone (M)
- Allan Cruz (M)
- Mathieu Deplagne (M)
- Greg Garza (D)
- Andrew Gutman (D)
- Joseph-Claude Gyau (M)
- Kekuta Manneh (F)
- Darren Mattocks (F)
- Alvas Powell (D)
- Caleb Stanko (M)
- Przemysław Tytoń (GK)
- Maikel van der Werff (D)
- Kendall Waston (D)
Two players are out of contract with FC Cincinnati as of now:
- Nazmi Albadawi (M)
- Victor Ulloa (M)
FC Cincinnati is executing contract options with six players, who will be guaranteed to return:
- Rashawn Dally (F)
- Nick Hagglund (D)
- Jimmy Hague (GK)
- Ben Lundt (GK)
- Tommy McCabe (M)
- Spencer Richey (GK)
Finally, five players will officially not be returning to FC Cincinnati in the 2020 season:
- Corben Bone (M)
- Justin Hoyte (D)
- Roland Lamah (M)
- Emmanuel Ledesma (M)
- Jimmy McLaughlin (M)
According to the press release sent by FC Cincinnati, the club is in negotiations with Ledesma and McLaughlin about their futures with the team. Fan favorite McLaughlin suffered a severe knee injury in pre-season training in January, 2019 and never officially took the field during season play. Ledesma, another fan favorite, has been a heavy hitter for the team, scoring high and earning MLS Player of the Week on more than one occasion.
FC Cincinnati has, in the past, negotiated coaching options for players like Austin Berry. The former defender is still listed as the team's strength & conditioning coach.
The press release also said, for players currently out on loan, contract decisions still have yet to be formally made. FC Cincinnati said they will make those decisions in the coming weeks, ahead of the MLS deadline. Those players are:
- Derrick Etienne Jr. (M) - on loan from the NYRB
- Logan Gdule (D) - on loan to USL team Hartford Athletic
- Forrest Lasso (D) - on loan to the USL team Nashville FC
- Hassan Ndam (D) - on loan to USL team Charlotte Independence
“It is never easy to make decisions that affect your players personally at the end of the season,” General Manager Gerard Nijkamp said. “We had to take an evaluative approach after this season and really look hard at who we believe will fit into our system going forward. There were some very tough decisions to be made, but ultimately our goal is put an improved product on the field in 2020."
This comes after FC Cincinnati recently broke an MLS record for most goals conceded in a single season. They ended their first season as an MLS team with a record of 6-22-6.
These roster decisions also come ahead of the upcoming 2019 MLS Expansion Draft, coming up in November. For that, all teams are required to submit their list of up to 12 protected players. Following that, the MLS will also hold the 2019 Re-Entry Draft, which allows players whose options were declined to connect with new teams.
