Red Bull News Network

New York Red Bulls are not adhering to the notion that they are development team without aspirations of winning. Head coach Gerhard Struber spoke about that with the media on Friday, cementing the idea that the Red Bulls are focused on winning trophies and not just developing young talent. "What we have in our long term goals is clear," said Struber. "We will bring trophies. This is not only my goal, this is the goal from the whole club. For that I think we need time for integration, we need time for development and in the end we have the right to speak about trophies. I think for me, for my whole coaching, the big duty to bring every single player up the right way." New York will go into the season with one of the younger sides in MLS but one that has promising potential. Players like Cameron Harper, Caden Clark and Wikelman Carmona will join players that seem like veterans in their early 20's like Youba Diarra and Tom Edwards. European experience will clash wi

New York Red Bulls' 2021 schedule has been released with the news that they will be once again sharing Red Bull Arena with other MLS teams, in particular NYCFC. Most notable is that the season will return to a 34-game schedule. Last season it was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the MLS is Back tournament encompassing a large part of the campaign. Due to the last start, the MLS season will run well into November and push the MLS Cup Playoffs into the winter months. New York will begin play on April 17th at home against Sporting KC and play a significant number of games at home. In years past the team spent most of the early part of the season on the road due to weather. Notable games for the Red Bulls include an early season trip to LA to play the Galaxy. They will not see rivals NYCFC until August 21st when the two teams play at Red Bull Arena. The season will end for New York on November 7th on the road against Nashvill SC.  Full 2021 schedule available on the New Yor

New York Red Bulls II continue to add to their roster ahead of the 2021 USL Championship season with the signing of academy product Daniel Edelman. The young New Jersey native isn't a stranger to the club, having made his professional debut with the club last season against Hartford Athletic. "We got a glimpse to see what he can do at the USL Championship level last season," said head coach John Wolyniec. "Now I think he has worked really hard knowing that he can contribute a lot to our team." New York is a constantly change club and continues to be one of the younger sides in the league. Last season the club failed to make the playoffs for the first time in team history. This newly revamped team will include Edelman with the objective of returning to the glory of previous seasons. "It is truly a privilege to put on this uniform," said Edelman. "I'll continue to challenge myself to improve every day while competing at the highest level."

The New York Red Bulls II added yet another piece to their defense corps by signing Academy Product and Hopewell Junction, New York native Curtis Ofori to a USL Championship contract pending federation and league approval, the club announced today. Ofori, 15, most recently played for Red Bulls Academy U-19’s as a left-back. He made five appearances during the 2020 fall season and recorded one goal. That goal was scored against Cedars Stars Monmouth on September 12, 2020 The defender becomes the youngest signing in franchise history at 15 years and 122 days old. “Curtis [Ofori] is an impressive young man, he trained with us last year on a limited basis and I think that experience has pushed him forward and inspired him to push his own development forward,” NYRB II Head Coach John Wolyniec said. “He is developing into a shut down 1v1 defender, with a big engine and he continues to impress us on the ball.” “I am thankful for being able to join such an amazing club,” Ofori said. “I cannot

New York Red Bulls and NYCFC have come to an agreement over the signing rights for defender Chris Gloster. The Red Bulls receive $100 thousand in General Allocation Money, clearing the way for the rival team to sign the young player. Gloster played with New York Red Bulls II in 2016, making just one appearance before moving over to German. The he played with Hannover 96 II before finding a more permanent home with Jong PSV in Denmark. Now, at the age of 20, the Montclair native has paved the way to return to MLS with NYCFC. The deal also includes a number of benchmarks. Should they be met the Red Bulls can receive as much as $300 thousand as per the agreement.

(photo by Matt Kremkau) New York Red Bulls will return to Red Bull Arena with fans on April 17th to play Sporting KC as the team's 2021 home opener. The announcement comes as fans await the full season schedule release but now know when the team will be returning in front of a reduced capacity fanbase. How many fans will be in attendance remains to be seen. The team and New Jersey officials are still working through the logistics of COVID-19 protocols but fans are all but guaranteed to be in the building. The last time the team played in front of fans was their home opener last March against FC Cincinnati. It was a 3-2 win, which was followed up by a 1-1 draw against Real Salt Lake before the pandemic shut down the league. New York will also be traveling to Los Angeles for the Galaxy's home opener on April 25th. The young team will have their first real test in that week, traveling across the country after a game at home just one week prior.

New York Red Bulls will add yet another defender as Atlanta United's Andrew Gutman will join the team on loan for the 2021 season. The 2018 Herman Trophy winner played with FC Cincinnati before being selected by Atlanta in the re-entry draft but now makes his way to New York. "He has proven that he can play in MLS and has qualities that we think will fit with our style of play," said Head of Sport Kevin Thelwell. "He is a solid defender, can contribute from wide areas going forward and has the physical attributes to meet the demands of our system." New York's defense has been revamped for 2021 following the departure of Tim Parker. Stepping in will be Andres Reyes but the team still needs depth which a signing like Gutman brings with him. How versatile he will be remains to be seen. However, it should be expected that he will compete with Josh Pendant for the starting role. Gutman signed with Celtic FC in 2019 but never played for the club. Instead he was lo

New York Red Bulls have added Celtic and US Men's National Team U-20 winger to the team for the 2021 season. The team's announcement comes after weeks of speculation as to whether the deal would be completed. "Cameron is a sharp young talent who has been rising through the ranks at Celtic and the US National Teams," said Head of Sport Kevin Thelwell. "Cameron possesses mental, physical and technical attributes that make us believe he has a bright future." Harper, only 19-years-old, signed with Celtic FC in Scotland in 2018. He has spent the last two seasons with the club's U-18 team and made his senior debut in the January 11th fixture against Hibernian. Catching the eye of scouts around the world, Harper's career began in California but now takes him across the United States and to a New York Red Bulls team that is poised to be one of the youngest and most dynamic in the league. "Cameron is an exciting, attacking player," said head coach G

The New York Red Bulls II bolstered their attack by adding former Indy Eleven forward Jeremy Rafanello to a USL Championship contract pending league and federation approval the club announced today. The 6-1, 20-year old, Delran, New Jersey native played for Indy Eleven last season, where he appeared in eight matches and recorded one goal. He signed his first contract with FC Helsingør in Denmark on July 10, 2019. “Adding Jeremy [Rafanello] to our roster is another important step in improving our team and the dynamics of our attack,” NYRB II Head Coach John Wolyniec said. “He is a hard-working forward that brings athleticism, intelligent movement, and a great striker of the ball.” Rafanello made two appearances for Reading United A.C. in USL League Two during the 2019 season. He was a member of the Philadelphia Union Academy, where he signed an amateur agreement with Philadelphia Union II and made two appearances in 2018. “I’m extremely excited to join such an amazing organization and s

(photo by Matt Kremkau) The USL Championship has announced their realignment ahead of the 2021 season with the New York Red Bulls II being slotted into the Atlantic division. They will be placed alongside Charleston Battery, Charlotte Independence, Hartford Athletic, Loudoun United FC, Miami FC, Pittsburgh Riverhounds and Tampa Bay Rowdies. The season format will have Red Bulls II playing everyone in their division four times with the four remaining games in the 32 game season being played with teams in other divisions. The schedule itself has not been released but the expectation is that play will begin no later than May 1st.  New York Red Bulls II did not make the playoffs last season, the first time that has happened since they joined the league back in 2015. John Wolyniec will be managing the club again for his seventh consecutive season, in the hopes of returning the club to the playoffs. Hopefuls such as Omar Sowe and Kyle Zajec and Jake LaCava will be expected to lead the team w

Red Bull Salzburg manager Jesse Marsch has caught the eye of several big clubs who may be planning on making an offer to the experienced American. Celtic legend Packie Bonner and Scottish national team manager James McFadden have both mentioned Marsch as a possible successor to Neil Lennon who vacated his post last week. "I want to put up Jesse Marsch as a contender," said Bonner to BBC Scotland . "He thinks slightly different. Of course, he's got the experience now of being at Salzburg. He's got good communication skills. But he thinks outside the box. That's what I like about him." Celtic are currently miles behind Glasgow Rangers who have returned to glory under manager Steven Gerrard. More than likely, Marsch will be picking up a rebuild project but his experience with young players may be exactly what the team needs. "You look at the model Salzburg have," said McFadden. "They identify young talent, Erling Haaland being one. Naby Keita

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may have the second leg of RB Leipzig's UEFA Champions League quarterfinals return to Budapest, giving neither team a home-field advantage. The news from The Times has both Leipzig and Liverpool returning to the Hungarian capital to finish out their two-leg fixture. Currently Leipzig is trailing 2-0 after a devastating loss in the opening frame. The move is for safety as German teams are currently not allowed to travel to England due to variants of COVID-19. The distraction of where the game would take place, left Leipzig seemingly under-prepared as they were overwhelmed by a Liverpool team that has mightily struggled in the Premier League. While it may seem like a tall ask, Leipzig are capable of coming back as we saw this weekend against Borussia Monchengladbach. UEFA did look into other venues according to the report. Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands and Italy's Stadio Friuli were both rejected. Venues in Cyprus and Romania were expl

New York Red Bulls have added midfielder Youba Diarra on loan from Red Bull Salzburg. The 22-year-old midfielder has battled injuries of late and struggled to find minutes under Jesse Marsch but Director of Sport Kevin Thelwell feels there is great potential. "Youba is an exciting player for us," said Thelwell in a club statement. "He has very good habits and a high work rate against the ball, and quality going forward, especially in transition. We expect Youba to be a good compliment to our midfield group." Diarra joined Salzburg in 2018 but has spent most of his time on loan. He had stints with Hartberg, Liefering and St. Pauli just to name a few sides. Over that time he picked up numerous injuries that made it difficult for him to make an impression on any of the clubs.  The young Malian joins a refreshed New York team under new head coach Gerhard Struber. Players like Fabio Netto, Carlos Miguel Coronel and Tom Edwards join the established crew of Sean Davis, Dan