PREVIEW: Red Bull New York Bulls vs FC Cincinnati; Add Bazán in Transfer Window Deadline Deal
On March 26th, the primary transfer window closed until the end of the World Cup, meaning from March 27th up until July 13th, no club can make a transfer and have that player play right away.
The only way a club can add players is by doing what Orlando City did with Antoine Griezmann, since that move would be official come July 13th.
If a player is within the last 6 months of their contract, any club may inquire about the player and have them sign with them.
With the Red Bulls, the only deal made on deadline day was the acquisition of 20-year-old Colombian Defender Julián Bazán.
Bazán is coming in as a U22 initiative player and filling the defensive hole the team has.
At the current moment, there are three center defenders and six defenders whose main positions are on the wings.
Currently, Justin Che and Dylan Nealis are injured, so this signing was primarily intended to fill the gap.
Bazán comes from Deportivo Pereira in Colombia, which is not one of the country’s traditional teams, and is currently last in the tournament. Bazán started playing in the reserve squad in the 2023/2024 season, during which he played 319 minutes in six games and also appeared in the Colombian equivalent of the US Open Cup, logging 114 minutes in three games. He was later promoted for the first time in 2024/2025 and compiled 387 minutes in six games. He also appeared in the Colombian Cup in the same number of games, but played 196 minutes.
In addition to the minutes in the first team, Bazán played two matches for the second team, totaling 64 minutes. In this season, he has played only seven first-team games and has compiled a total of 630 minutes.
Match Preview
This game should be a bounce-back from the drubbing the Red Bulls took in Charlotte. FC Cincinnati comes in after being eliminated late in the CONCACAF Champions Cup by Tigres, and they have accumulated only 6 points out of a possible 15 and have not tied a game. Moreover, the international break meant that, for the first time this season, both teams did not play a game. This factor also gave Michael Bradley more time to plan for this particular matchup, rather than the two- or five-day window between games.
In the starting lineup, I can see the Red Bulls in a 4-2-1-3 formation that, when the ball is lost, turns into a 4-3-3. The players would be Horvath at goal; on the right wing, Jakheele Marshall Rutty; central defenders would be Tim Parker and the newest signing, Julián Bazán, on the left, and Matthew Dos Santos. In the midfield, it would be the pair of Adri Mehmeti and Emil Forsberg, in between both the midfielders and the forwards, it would be Julian Hall, and in the forwards, it would be Jorge Ruvalcalba on the left, Eric Maxim-Chupo Moting in the middle, and on the right, Cade Cowell.
I can also see Andy Rojas come in as the first sub instead of Ruvalcalba or Cowell.
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