“When you speak to Jürgen,” Red Bull New York head of sport Julian de Guzman mused at a recent panel, “and he comes here to see the talent, and he’s squinting and he’s looking at the players like, ‘Wait a minute, I have been a coach in the top leagues for 30 years and won championships, but I’ve never seen this type of talent before. What are we doing with it?’ And then you realize, ‘Wow, okay, we’re seeing the same thing.’”
That Jürgen? Jürgen Klopp, the former Liverpool and Dortmund manager now serving as Red Bull’s head of global soccer, whose read on a young player is certainly worth considering.
“So we’re able to collaborate and make sense as to why we will put Adri Mehmeti on the field and have him start a game, because Jürgen’s saying ‘This boy has something.’ And when you have somebody like that work next to you and say the same things, like, ‘Okay, I’m no crazy fool here.’”
One day after Red Bull New York won their 2026 home opener in a game marked by the contributions of a trio of teenaged U.S. men’s national prospects, the club welcomed coaches, administrators, and other members of the soccer community to Sports Illustrated Stadium. This event, the club’s annual youth soccer summit, seemed that much more resonant early in a season where RBNY continue to play the kids unlike any team in MLS.
