Keaton Parks joins New York City FC on year-long loan | OneFootball

USA international midfielder Keaton Parks will be returning stateside in 2019.

The 21-year-old American will be joining New York City FC on loan from Benfica for the 2019 MLS season.

Parks made his lone appearance for the USA national team on 28 May, 2018, as a substitute for Joe Corona in an exhibition match against Bolivia.

The midfielder originally hails from Plano, Texas, and joined Varzim S.C. in Portugal in 2015 after turning 18.

Impressing initially with that club’s reserves, Parks adapted to the second-division and earned a move to the Portuguese giants Benfica. in 2017.

The Texan has since made the most of his appearances for Benfica B in LigaPro, racking up just 106 minutes for the first-team so far.

His loan to MLS should provide more consistent playing time for the midfielder with a sharp eye for a pass.

NYC FC head coach Domènec Torrent praised his new loan signing in the club’s press release. “Keaton is a young American player that can play at a few different spots in the midfield. He can play in the six position, but he can always play further up the field as an eight.”

“Even though he’s a young player, he’s played professionally in Europe and that experience will help him as he joins our squad and competes for minute in our midfield.”

The youngster will be seen to more-or-less fill the role of Yangel Herrera after the Venezuelan recently moved on to Huesca in Spain.