Andrew Leigh from Hudson River Blue Read More [[{“value”:”
Julián Fernández arrived at New York City FC with high expectations in 2023 but enters his second full MLS season in 2025 still with a lot to prove.
The 21-year-old winger from Buenos Aires, Argentina is up to 36 appearances across all competitions for New York City since joining the club on August 1, 2023, but those appearances have been sporadic and brief, with Fernández to date averaging just 32 minutes of game time per appearance.
He’s only got four goals and two assists so far in his time playing in MLS after coming to America from Vélez Sarsfield for a reported $5 million transfer fee. He was heralded as the replacement on the right for Gabriel Pereira when NYCFC signed him, but we’ve yet to see Fernández unlock his full potential while in New York City.
Fernández should benefit from a fresh start in 2025 under new coach Pascal Jansen, who was hired at least in part to try to get the best out of NYCFC’s collection of promising young players, Fernández included. Can Fernández and his lethal left foot claim a bigger share of minutes in 2025, despite the return of most of the players he competed for playing time with during 2024?
Fleeting glimpses
Early in the 2024 season, it looked like Fernández was in for a big first full season in MLS. Cushing started him on Matchday 1 and in three of the team’s first five MLS games, but Julián too often looked out of sorts and not in sync with his teammates, disjointed with his pressing and not a consistent enough threat when in possession.
There was good mixed in, with one example being his match-winning pinpoint assist to Kevin O’Toole to get New York City FC its first win of the 2024 season on March 16 vs. Toronto FC. It’s not the individual brilliance of a solo goal, but instead highlights the magic Fernández can conjure with that left foot.
O’TOOLE TIME ⏰ pic.twitter.com/XLeoivPNp6
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) March 17, 2024
He also scored his two 2024 goals in back-to-back April home matches against New England Revolution and DC United, with Fernández entering each match as a late second-half substitute. His season individually peaked in late April 2024, which wasn’t ideal considering NYCFC games continued to get played until late November 2024.
Missing and inconsistent
Fernández only earned starts in consecutive matches twice during the 2024 season: Against Toronto and then FC Cincinnati on March 16 and March 23, then against Querétaro FC and FC Cincinnati in the first two Leagues Cup matches in late July. Otherwise, Julián was an inconsistently used substitute who had nine appearances (out of 27 total) that lasted fewer than 15 minutes of game time, playing just 22% of NYCFC’s available MLS minutes last season.
Why didn’t Fernández play more? The easy answer is Hannes Wolf, who arrived from the German Bundesliga with an inside track on that right-wing role under Nick Cushing. Wolf appeared in 42 of New York City’s 43 matches in all competitions in 2025, in the Starting XI for 39 of those matches.
The Austrian squeezed out Fernández and Fernández stayed out of Cushing’s plans even though Wolf had just one single goal contribution, an assist, from August through to the end of the 2024 season, a span of 17 matches.
The harder question to answer: Where did Fernández come up short with the previous NYCFC Head Coach that kept him off the field for so much of the 2024 season? He struggled to hold possession in 2024, as Fernández was dispossessed 2.27 times per 90 minutes during the 2024 season, which had him ranked way down in the Fourth Percentile of all MLS wingers and attacking midfielders. Fernández was also only a 33rd percentile passer among wingers and attacking mids while completing 73.4% of his attempted passes, per FBRef.com.
Reasons for 2025 optimism
He’s still just 21 years old and it’s possible that there is a much clearer path to playing time for Fernández in 2025 – if Santiago Rodríguez does leave in a transfer to Botafogo of Brazil’s Série A. It’s not hard to envision a scenario where Hannes Wolf begins to play more in that vacated No 10 role if Santi leaves, which would give Julián a golden opportunity to finally make the right-wing his own.
Already this preseason, Fernández has flashed what makes him so tantalizing to watch. As a dribbler, the 6’0″ youngster almost glides with the ball at his feet, and he looked to be doing just that while progressing through the San Diego FC midfield in the buildup to what went down as an Alonso Martínez golazo during NYCFC’s recent 3-1 preseason win at the Coachella Valley Invitational.
Cosas normales para este mae 🇨🇷 pic.twitter.com/T1Xs4ozljg
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) February 8, 2025
Fernández gets the ball into dangerous attacking positions, as even during his disappointing 2024, he was in the 97th percentile among MLS wingers and attacking midfielders with 6.94 touches in the attacking penalty area per 90 minutes played.
If Fernández can clean up his game in possession and keep up with the physical and defensive demands Pascal Jansen’s system puts on its wide attackers, he could be a breakout candidate. He’s teased his potential across his parts of two seasons with NYCFC, and in 2025, we’ll see if a new voice leading his training sessions and guiding him from the touchline on matchdays makes the difference for Fernández in MLS.
“}]]