New York City FC has its new coach.
Pascal Jansen was formally announced as the club’s next head coach on Monday after City dismissed former head coach Nick Cushing following the team’s conference semifinals loss to the rival Red Bulls.
“We are delighted to welcome Pascal to New York City FC,” sporting director David Lee said in a statement. “We have a group of really talented players and wanted to hire an experienced coach that can take us to the next level, and Pascal ticks all the boxes we were looking for to lead New York City FC.”
Jansen, whose contract will run through 2028, brings an extensive coaching résumé to NYCFC that includes leading AZ Alkmaar in his native Netherlands’ top domestic league from December 2020 to January 2024 and serving as head coach with Ferencvárosi in Hungary’s top division for 30 games last year.
Jansen, 51, had coached AZ Alkmaar for 162 matches and led the team to a semifinal appearance in the UEFA Europa Conference League during the 2022-23 season.
Prior to his departure from Ferencvárosi, he led the club to second place over 16 league matches this season.
Ferencvárosi announced on Dec. 31 that Jansen had his contract bought out by a “group that owns one of the world’s leading football clubs” and shortly after Hungarian media began reporting that City Football Group — the parent company of NYCFC and Premier League powerhouse Manchester City — was behind the move.
“I am thrilled to be joining New York City FC. This is a special club, with an exciting future and I’m proud to continue my professional journey here in this amazing city and this rapidly improving league. I can’t wait for preseason to begin so I can meet the staff and players and get the season underway,” Jansen said in a statement.
Jansen’s name had also been connected to the head coaching opening with the English second-division club Sunderland last June.
The hire comes after the somewhat surprising move to part ways with Cushing following their playoff loss in late November.
Cushing had declared “I will be here next year” amid reports that Arsenal FC Women had been interested in him as their next coach and in a conversation with The Post in October, he discussed how the 2024 playoff run was part of a bigger picture he had for the club’s long-term ambitions.
Jansen is City’s third head coach since June 2022 and the sixth head coach in club history.
He is tasked with leading an NYCFC side with plenty of young talent, which was part of the appeal that Lee saw in bringing Jansen aboard.
“I think it’s really important for us that our head coach, at this moment in time, was somebody who had a really good experience of developing young players,” Lee said in a team-produced video about the hire. “Pascal has got a fantastic track record of both giving young players opportunities and working with them through their development process in order to reach their maximum potential.
“We have a group of players that are really talented and the basis of a group that we think should be competitive for years to come. And we wanted to make sure we hired an experienced head coach who we feel can help take us to the next level and make sure we compete for trophies year in and year out.”
