RBNY Head of SpORt Julian de Guzman on Goalkeeper Situation: "We're Not There Yet"

When asked by Jorge Martinez of The Exchange FC about whether or not the club had addressed the goalkeeper situation yet, Red Bull New York Head of Sport Julian de Guzman chuckled and provided a simple answer.

"Not yet, no."

RBNY has not brought in a new goalkeeper since Carlos Coronel's contract expired at the end of the 2025 Major League Soccer season. With preseason coming right around the corner, it was starting to look like the club was going to promote from within for the goalkeeping responsibilities, but de Guzman assured the media otherwise on Monday.

"We're not there yet. We're fairly close and I think we have a really good idea as to this fit."

Currently, Red Bull New York has four goalkeepers under contract with its first team, including 2025 transfer John McCarthy, homegrowns Aidan Stokes and Tobias Szewczyk and the injured AJ Marcucci. McCarthy, 33, was brought into RBNY in a summer trade from LA Galaxy to replace Marcucci as the club's backup goalkeeper following his ACL tear.

Marcucci had been the preferred second-choice keeper behind Carlos Coronel since Ryan Meara's retirement at the beginning of 2025 prior to his injury. In his 7 appearances across all competitions, Marcucci proved that he is a competent MLS calibler goalkeeper. However, he won't be available for selection until midway through the 2026 season at the earliest.

Stokes, who turns 18 next week, has spent the last two seasons as the regular starter for RBNY II. In that time, he has been capped at various youth levels by each of the Welsh, English and United States national setups. It was expected that he would take over as the club's backup keeper behind McCarthy to start the 2026 season, at least until Marcucci's return.

Szewczyk, who turns 17 on Jan. 26, made his professional debut with RBNY II in 2025 and is poised to receive more opportunities in MLS Next Pro. He has picked up nine youth international caps with United States U-15s through U-17s and also possesses a Polish passport. He will count as an off roster homegrown player in 2026 should de Guzman bring in an additional goalkeeper.

Of course, there's also 2026 draft pick Tomas Hut out of Syracuse who fans can expect to see with RBNY II this season.

"We need to button that up quite soon. Preseason's around the corner, but we're fairly close."

While all the top free agent goalkeepers in MLS have found clubs, one name that has been mentioned in connection to RBNY before and is currently looking for a club is Cardiff City's Ethan Horvath. The 30-year-old's loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday ended on Jan. 3 and he is not in the plans of Cardiff manager Brian Barry-Murphy. 

Horvath has spent his entire professional career in Europe, turning pro in 2015 with Molde in the Norwegian Eliteserien under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before joining Belgian giants Club Brugge for a five-year spell between 2016 and 2021. From there, the Highlands Ranch, Colorado native bounced around the English Championship, stopping at Nottingham Forest, Cardiff, Wednesday and most notably helping Luton Town earn a historic promotion to the Premier League in 2022-23.

Of his ten U.S. Men's National Team caps, Horvath is best remembered for his heroic performance as a substitute against Mexico in the 2021 CONCACAF Nations League Final, helping the Yanks to a 3-2 win with a penalty save on Andres Guardado in extra time. He also served as the primary backup to Matt Turner at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Gatito Fernandez?

Paraguayan international goalkeeper Gatito Fernandez is reportedly interested in a move to Red Bull New York according to Gustavo Guimaraes of Pitchside US and his representation may be meeting with de Guzman. The 37-year-old has been a regular with La Albirroja and favors a move to the MLS side from current club Cerro Porteño ahead of the World Cup.

Joe Pantorno of AMNY suggests that the interest may just be from the player and the club's preferences may lie with a domestic goalkeeper.

Empire Soccer Report Episode 2 goes Live today!

Episode 2 of Empire Soccer Report will be available on all platforms at 1:30pm EST on Tuesday, Jan. 6. In the latest episode, James Birle is joined by Daniel Rebain of Area Sports Network and Bad Dawg Sports to break down Red Bull New York head coach Michael Bradley's introductory press conference on Monday, Jan. 5.