ORLANDO – New York City FC are finalizing a deal to acquire American central midfielder Keaton Parks on loan from Benfica, sources told MLSsoccer.com on Monday.
Parks, 21, has played in Portugal since the summer of 2015, when he joined second-division side Varzim. The Plano, Texas native moved to Benfica in June 2017 and has since spent most of his time with the club’s reserves in the Portuguese second division. He recorded seven goals and six assists in 29 appearances for Benfica II last season and has one assist in 13 matches in their current campaign. He’s made six career appearances in all competitions for Benfica’s first-team, all of which came in the 2017-18 season.
Parks has one career cap with the US men’s national team, coming off the bench to play 29 minutes in their 1-0 win against Bolivia at Talen Energy Stadium last May. He never made an official appearance for any US youth national teams.
The sources said that his loan to NYCFC will last for the duration of the 2019 season.
