Newly-appointed New York City FC sporting director Todd Dunivant views replacing the goals of the injured Alonso Martinez as a \u201cbig priority\u201d as he looks ahead to the upcoming 2026 MLS season.
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\nTodd Dunivant was appointed as NYCFC\u2019s new Sporting Director in December. Photo via NYCFC.<\/p>\n
Martinez, who finished as NYCFC\u2019s top scorer last season with 19 goals across the regular season and MLS playoffs, ruptured his ACL while on international duty with Costa Rica in November and is expected to be sidelined until after the 2026 World Cup. NYCFC rallied after Martinez\u2019s injury to beat Supporters\u2019 Shield winners Philadelphia Union in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but played without a recognized striker in that game and the subsequent meeting with Inter Miami, which ended in a 5-1 loss.<\/p>\n
Dunivant, who was appointed as the club\u2019s new sporting director in December following the departure of his predecessor David Lee last season, is now looking to replace Martinez\u2019s goals for the upcoming season. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to make sure that we find replacements,\u201d Dunivant said. \u201cAlonso scored a lot of goals, and we\u2019ve got to make sure we find that within the team. Alonso is going to be out for a good chunk of the year. We have to make sure that we are finding goals somewhere, and that means we need to look into the market and be able to add attacking help. I mean, there\u2019s no doubt about that. So I think that\u2019s priority number one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dunivant added that he will be open to signing players in either the winter transfer window or the mid-season summer window. He also re-emphasized the need to find goals in the market. \u201cThere\u2019s certainly a need for goals and attacking help, and I think that\u2019s something we\u2019re keeping a close eye on in the market,\u201d Dunivant added. \u201cWhether that\u2019s now, whether it\u2019s in summer, we need to be ready when an opportunity presents itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dunivant said the club is looking for players of a similar profile to Justin Haak, who departed the club for LA Galaxy in the offseason, and said Talles Magno has \u201chit the ground running\u201d after rejoining the NYCFC squad following a loan spell at Brazilian club Corinthians. Magno, one of the club\u2019s designated players alongside Nico Fernandez Mercau and Thiago Martins, faces a \u201cblank slate\u201d following his loan away from New York, Dunivant added. \u201cTalles has been back with us in preseason now, and has been really, really good integrating in with the group,\u201d Dunivant said.<\/p>\n
He also spoke of the importance of finding success on the field in order to improve attendance in the stands, affirming that \u201cNew York expects winners.\u201d He noted that the club has reached the Eastern Conference final in three of the last five seasons and said fans have become accustomed to the club as a \u201cperennial play-off team.\u201d Dunivant further asserted that it is essential that NYCFC continues to post positive results so that it can establish itself in a major city with a number of high-profile teams in each of the Big Four sports. \u201cAll of that speaks to who we are and kind of the history that we\u2019ve established,\u201d Dunivant said. \u201cWe need to continue to do that. Want to build on that. We\u2019ve got a great foundation we\u2019re going to build on. And ultimately, being in a big market like New York, you do have a lot of eyeballs, but that\u2019s opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
In conclusion, Todd Dunivant has outlined the importance of replacing Alonso Martinez’s goals as the top priority for NYCFC in the upcoming season. With Martinez expected to be out until after the 2026 World Cup, the club will need to find new sources of goals to remain competitive. Dunivant is open to signing players in either the winter or summer transfer windows and is looking for players with a similar profile to Justin Haak. The club’s success on the field will be crucial in improving attendance and establishing itself as a major player in New York’s sports scene.<\/p>\n
Q: Who is Todd Dunivant?
\nA: Todd Dunivant is the newly-appointed sporting director of New York City FC.
\nQ: What is NYCFC’s top priority for the upcoming season?
\nA: Replacing Alonso Martinez’s goals is the top priority for NYCFC in the upcoming season.
\nQ: When is Alonso Martinez expected to return from injury?
\nA: Alonso Martinez is expected to be out until after the 2026 World Cup.
\nQ: Is Todd Dunivant open to signing players in the summer transfer window?
\nA: Yes, Todd Dunivant is open to signing players in either the winter or summer transfer windows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to NYCFC’s New Sporting Director Newly-appointed New York City FC sporting director Todd Dunivant views replacing the goals of the injured Alonso Martinez as a \u201cbig priority\u201d as he looks ahead to the upcoming 2026 MLS season. Todd Dunivant was appointed as NYCFC\u2019s new Sporting Director in December. Photo via NYCFC. The Challenge of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-28054","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.amny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-21-133206.jpg?quality=51&w=384&w=384&resize=384,187&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28054"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28054"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28057,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28054\/revisions\/28057"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}