New York City FC are gearing up for their first season in Major League Soccer, and head coach Jason Kreis is fully on board with the developments inside the team ahead of 2015.
In a video interview with Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl on Monday (watch above), Kreis spoke about the upcoming stadium plan for the team, plans for Designated Players, and more.
The club announced on Monday that NYCFC will play at Yankee Stadium for their inaugural season, and Kreis said he "couldn't be happier" to be playing at the venue.
"From what I understand, it's a location that everybody knows where it is in New York City. It couldn't be a better thing for us," he said.
Although there has been speculation that the team may ultimately end up settling outside of the limits of the US' largest city, Kreis insisted that was not the plan. "There's no doubt we're going to have a soccer specific stadium within the city and we're looking for that site right now."
On the topic of Designated Players – a hot-button issue considering the team's association with free-spending Manchester City – the coach hinted that there may be some news coming up on that front for next season, though he made it clear they are still working on making deals.
"There are some things in the works and we're hopeful to have something decided upon and an announcement to make soon," Kreis said. "But if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. We'll wait and we'll make the right decision. We still have a lot of time before we start this thing up next year."
- Check out more New York City FC news at NYCFC.com
Regardless of whether the DP plans are fully in place or not, Kreis and the NYCFC front office are relying on the might of the Manchester City scouting framework, and are moving forward in their plans.
"We have an international scouting department and we've been working with those guys very hard," he said. "I've been watching a lot of videos over the past month or so of players they've been recommending that they've brought out.
"And so we're moving forward on all those decisions and are hopeful that we can make some of those come this summer. But I think more realistically probably most of those decisions will be made in the winter."
