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| Photo by Matt Kremkau |
As we get ready for the big derby weekend against local rivals New York City FC, and the hope from the Red Bulls to secure the full three points can push them into a better position in the Eastern Conference table, it's time to take a brief timeout and look towards the future of the club, and seeing some bright young players about to make all of us smile.
As we already know the growth of the club is not just what's going on with the senior side at Red Bull Arena, but to develop future stars to join those who have gone through the same pathway, or to join those international players who have transferred over to make a big attempt to play in front of their fans.
More academy players are graduating to the professional side at a very strong rate, and now we are seeing the fruits of their labor show. One will be on the MLS roster, while the other will make the next move to the MLS Next Pro Roster with the two team as both Julian Hall & Tanner Rosborough have made the jump.
Julian Hall is currently the second youngest player in club history to sign his MLS contract and be a part of the top squad, at the age of fifteen years old. What this kid has done has been amazing converting chances for the U-15 squad and winning his MLS Next age group championship. He has represented the Academy side over the last three seasons. Made 39 appearances and scored 28 goals. He scored five goals in this year's MLS Next U-15 Cup which also included the MVP trophy and the tying goal in the final.
“We are very excited to add Julian to our roster for this season and also the long-term,” said Head of Sport Jochen Schneider. “Julian has had a very good season, not just at the Academy level, but the MLS NEXT Pro level as well and he has demonstrated that he has the qualities to succeed in our system.”
“We have seen very good things from Julian over the last calendar year,” said Head Coach Troy Lesesne. “Julian is a very promising young striker that has a lot of potential and we are excited to help him to continue to grow.”
He was also on the roster for the US Youth U-15 National team and won the CONCACAF championship against Mexico in the final four goals to two. Now he did have a chance to move abroad to play for a club side in Europe, due to his European passport as one of his parents was born in Poland, but he decided that he wanted to start his top-level career here with the Red Bulls.
The next player who has also been doing very well for himself in the Red Bulls Academy is Tanner Rosborough, who is moving on to the Red Bulls two team in MLS Next Pro, but he will be headed to the MLS main roster as a homegrown in 2025. He has only been with the academy for just a year, but he has done so many good things, the club has already decided to give him his first professional contract.
“Tanner has shown in our Academy why he is so highly regarded, and we cannot be happier to sign him to his first professional contract,” Sporting Director Denis Hamlett said. “His skills as a forward at this point in his career have led him to this opportunity, and we know he will take full advantage of it.”
“Tanner is a talent that will be a very important asset to the club now, and in the future,” Head Coach Ibrahim Sekagya said. “He proved through our Academy that he has an incredible amount of composure in the final third and an inherent ability to find the back of the net.”
He began his MLS NExt Pro Debut on April 21 of this year but he was also on that same U-15 squad with Hall and was one of the top goalscorers and also participated in the Generation Adidas tourney. He was also on that US U-15 youth team with Hall winning the CONCACAF Championship over Mexico, so you can definitely say these two players have been intertwined with each other to do great things for the Red Bulls in the future.
The talent level in the New York City tri-state area has been at the highest level for a very long time. This is why I believe this club continues to churn out so many strong players in all positions. Sure it started out with Jozy Altidore a long time ago, but now, we can definitely say more talented generations of players are being pumped through the pipeline. Tyler Adams, Sean Davis, Derrick Etienne Jr., Omir Fernadez, John Tolkin, Serge Ngoma, and so on continue to make this club a destination to give local kids a place to enhance their skills.
It makes me happy to see the future is very bright and even though there might be a few that are let go and they sign on to another club in the future, the truth is you can't keep all of these talented players. There will be some cracks, and they could slip out. But at least we know who is ready to make the jump and help earn wins very soon. If you are old enough, then you are good enough. Let's see what Hall & Rosborough will do.
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