New York City FC are delighted to announce that goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell has joined the club.
City’s 22-year old 2018 SuperDraft pick becomes one of the Boys in Blue permanently following a successful preseason training with his new teammates.
Selected by NYCFC with the 19th overall pick at January’s SuperDraft in Philadelphia, Caldwell has spent the last six weeks with his new teammates in Florida, LA and Mexico in preparation for the 2018 season.
Caldwell told NYCFC.com: “Going into preseason without a contract, there’s a lot on the line, but it was a really good experience to get to know the guys and to work my way into the group.
“Right now
,
my job is to come in to work every day with a completely open mind and to just absorb information. If I do that enough days in a row, I’ll improve, and if I do that over a long enough period of time, I’ll be successful.
“The team goals are trophies and I hope to be a part of that in any way I can. I hope to one day be out on the field helping directly but right now I just want to be a good teammate and to become a better goalkeeper and then to become a winner.
“Every single guy on this team comes from a winning background and knows what it takes to win trophies, so I just have to absorb that and become the best player I can.”
Head Coach Patrick Vieira said: “From the combine, he was our first option. We really wanted to go after him because we saw very good potential in him.
“Jeff put his head down in preseason and kept working really hard and showed us that he’s a good goalkeeper who will continue to develop in the coming weeks and months.
“He will bring determination and his enthusiasm to be on the field. His work ethic has been terrific since he came in from the draft.”
Sporting Director Claudio Reyna added: “Jeff came into preseason after we selected him as our 19th pick in the First Round of the SuperDraft and we’re really pleased with how he’s acquitted himself to the level so far.
“He has come to NYCFC from a very successful college career and has quickly adapted to the professional environment. He’s a great kid who wants to learn - he’s all ears and eyes to take it all in and he’s very motivated to improve.
“Together with coach Rob Vartughian, Sean Johnson, Andre Rawls and Brad Stuver, we’re really happy with the goalkeeping group we have put together. We’re counting on Jeff to keep working and to help the team this year.”
Caldwell earned back-to-back All-ACC honors at the University of Virginia, receiving callups to the U.S. U-17, U-18 and U-20 national teams, earning his first U-20 cap in 2015 vs. England.
Jeff becomes NYCFC’s tenth addition of the offseason, following Saad Abdul-Salaam, Jo Inge Berget, Cedric Hountondji, Sebastien Ibeagha, Jesus Medina, Ebenezer Ofori, Brad Stuver, Ismael Tajouri-Shradi and Anton Tinnerholm to the Club.
