Jesús Medina Signs CFG Contract, Will Join NYCFC in 2018

City Football Group have signed 20-year-old Paraguayan international Jesús Medina to a contract and have paid Club Libertad a $4 million transfer fee which includes 20% of a future transfer fee. Libertad’s vice president Rubén Di Torre confirmed the news this morning. Medina will join New York City FC for the 2018 MLS season with hopes of moving on to Girona or Manchester City in 2019.

Asked about which CFG club Medina would head to, Di Torre confirmed that he will go directly to NYCFC: “To start he’s going to New York City. It is my understanding he is going directly there.”

“It hasn’t been ruled out that he’d go to Spain or Manchester City. He’s very serious and I think he’ll adapt without any problems, but first he’s going to the United States,” he added.

City Football Group owns Manchester City, New York City FC and holds 44.3% ownership of Girona (with another 44.3% being held by the brother of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola), among other clubs, and the relationship between the clubs has been blurred heavily at times. It is immediately known which club official purchased Jesús Medina.

Yangel Herrera was the most recent South American player reportedly signed by CFG, it was later announced that he was signed by Manchester City and loaned to NYCFC for two years. As a result of being loaned to NYCFC instead of being purchased by the MLS side, NYCFC was able to avoid the DP charge that would have been automatically assigned given his transfer fee.

Herrera is unable to attain an automatic UK work permit due to the Venezuelan national team’s low FIFA ranking and therefore needs to play more minutes before being granted that permit. NYCFC had the need for a midfielder and welcomed the arrival of the young prodigy and it may be the same case for Medina. It was reported last week that Medina would join NYCFC if he was unable to obtain a UK work permit.

A player needs to have played in 75% of their games over a two-year period, with their country averaging a place in the top 50 of the Fifa rankings, in order to obtain a work permit. Venezuela remains just outside of the top 50 at 52. The number drops to 60% for players that come from countries with an average position between 21 and 30, with Medina’s Paraguay currently in 30th place.

Medina will be the third player on loan from City Football Group in 2018 following Yangel Herrera and Nahuel Ferraresi. The player is set to undergo his medical in the coming days. You can follow along with all of NYCFC’s transfer news here.