New York City FC today\u00a0announced that it has\u00a0acquired\u00a0Forward B\u00e9nie Traor\u00e9\u00a0as a Designated Player from Swiss side FC Basel 1893 on a contract through\u00a0the 2029\/2030 season with\u00a0an option\u00a0for 2030\/2031.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old\u00a0Ivory Coast\u00a0international will join the Club upon receipt of his ITC and P-1 Visa.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Forward\u00a0joins\u00a0New York City FC\u00a0as the\u00a011th Designated Player\u00a0in Club history,\u00a0after having gained\u00a0experience across\u00a0the\u00a0Swiss Super League, Swiss Cup, and\u00a0UEFA Europa League\u00a0with FC Basel.\u00a0In\u00a0two seasons with\u00a0the Club,\u00a0Traor\u00e9\u00a0made 80 appearances across all competitions, registering 25 goals and 15 assists.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Forward enjoyed a standout 2024\/2025 season with FC Basel, helping lead the Club to its 21st Swiss Super League Championship.\u00a0Throughout\u00a0League play, the\u00a0Bouak\u00e9\u00a0native\u00a0scored 13\u00a0goals and finished as the Club\u2019s second-highest scorer in the competition. During that same season,\u00a0Traor\u00e9 scored a goal in\u00a0FC Basel\u2019s\u00a0Swiss Cup Semifinal win and started in the Swiss Cup Final,\u00a0helping the\u00a0Bebbi\u00a0secure\u00a0their\u00a014th Swiss Cup title.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited to welcome\u00a0B\u00e9nie\u00a0to New York City FC,\u201d said Sporting Director Todd Dunivant. \u201cB\u00e9nie\u00a0brings pace, versatility, and\u00a0a\u00a0proven\u00a0track record\u00a0of getting on the score sheet.\u00a0In addition to what he contributes on the field,\u00a0B\u00e9nie\u00a0will also add\u00a0to our locker room and\u00a0team culture through his\u00a0infectious\u00a0personality\u00a0and team-first mentality.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prior to joining FC Basel, Traor\u00e9 gained experience at various\u00a0clubs across\u00a0Ivory Coast, Sweden, England, and France where he scored 25 goals and tallied 10 assists in 82 appearances. The Forward began his career in his home country, developing within the Academy and First Team at ASEC Mimosas, before joining Swedish side BK\u00a0H\u00e4cken, competing in the\u00a0Allsvenskan\u00a0and Svenska\u00a0Cupen. Traor\u00e9 then moved to Sheffield United, featuring in the Premier League and EFL Cup, before spending time on loan with FC Nantes in France, appearing in Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the 2022\/2023 season with Swedish side BK\u00a0H\u00e4cken, Traor\u00e9 played\u00a0an important role\u00a0in the Club\u2019s winning campaign in\u00a0the\u00a0Svenska\u00a0Cupen.\u00a0The Forward started five of the Club\u2019s six matches in the competition, recording three goals and three assists, including two assists in BK\u00a0H\u00e4cken\u2019s\u00a0Semifinal victory\u00a0en\u00a0route to the\u00a0Final.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited to join New York City FC and begin this next chapter of my career,\u201d said Forward B\u00e9nie Traor\u00e9. \u201cThe style of play, the ambition of the Club, and the belief shown in me made this the right opportunity.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0looking forward to getting to work, helping the team achieve its goals, and competing for trophies.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the\u00a0International level, the Forward has made seven appearances\u00a0and\u00a0provided two\u00a0assists\u00a0for\u00a0the\u00a0Ivory Coast\u00a0Men\u2019s\u00a0National Team.\u00a0Traor\u00e9\u00a0featured\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0Africa Cup of Nations qualifying wins over Zambia and Sierra Leone\u00a0in\u00a02024\u00a0and\u00a0also\u00a0appeared\u00a0in\u00a0friendlies against South Korea and Scotland in 2026.\u00a0Traor\u00e9\u00a0was named into\u00a0the Elephants\u00a0preliminary\u00a0roster\u00a0ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everyone at the Club welcomes\u00a0B\u00e9nie\u00a0to New York City.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Transaction:\u00a0New York City FC\u00a0acquires\u00a0Forward B\u00e9nie Traor\u00e9 from FC Basel 1893 as a Designated Player on a contract through\u00a0the\u00a02029\/2030 season with\u00a0an option\u00a0for 2030\/2031.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Date of Birth:\u00a0November\u00a030, 2002\u00a0<\/p>\n
Birthplace:\u00a0Bouak\u00e9,\u00a0Ivory Coast\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last Club:\u00a0FC Basel 1893<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York City FC today\u00a0announced that it has\u00a0acquired\u00a0Forward B\u00e9nie Traor\u00e9\u00a0as a Designated Player from Swiss side FC Basel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,24,55,54,12,56],"class_list":["post-281602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-news","tag-ny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}