RBNY Trades Daniel Edelman to ST Louis City For $700K in Gam

According to sources, Red Bull New York has traded homegrown central midfielder Daniel Edelman to St. Louis City S.C. in exchange for $700,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM). | Photo courtesy of Red Bull New York

by James Birle

Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 - 8:00 AM

According to Tom Bogert of The Athletic, Red Bull New York has traded homegrown central midfielder Daniel Edelman to St. Louis City S.C. in exchange for $700,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM).

The move comes after lots of speculation that Edelman would join the growing list of RBNY castaways this offseason, with reports suggesting that New York would be willing to trade the 22-year-old originating as early as Dec. 10. Edelman had garnered interest from overseas earlier in his career, but will be staying in MLS with St. Louis, who will not only be playing RBNY for the first time ever in a competitive match this MLS season on Sept. 26 at Sports Illustrated Stadium, but the two teams will be playing each other in under two weeks for a preseason exhibition match.

The Warren, NJ native has 118 appearances for the Red Bulls first team in all competitions between 2022 and 2025. He previously made 41 appearances for RBNY II between 2020 and 2023 after joining the RBNY academy from the prestigious Players Development Academy (PDA) of Somerset, with which he had been playing since 2015. His 96 MLS appearances are the sixth most of any homegrown player in RBNY history.

St. Louis will inherit Edelman's contract that carries through 2027 with an additional opt-in year in 2028 at a base salary of $465,000.

Becoming an MLS regular in 2022, Edelman quickly became an important fixture in New York's midfield and earned first choice minutes as the "number six" from 2023 and beyond. His best campaign came in 2024 when he led the club in minutes played (2,524) and scored the decisive penalty to eliminate the reigning champion Columbus Crew from the MLS Cup Playoffs.

A defensive stalwart, Edelman excelled with New York in covering ground and retrieving possession, and can be expected to play a large chunk of minutes in a similar role for St. Louis. As RBNY reexamines its playing philosophy to incorporate more possession-based football ahead of the 2026 MLS season, Head of Sport Julian de Guzman may be opting to employ a deep-lying midfielder primarily known for their ability on the ball.

This much-anticipated move represents a continuation of de Guzman's alteration of the trajectory of his squad in the Michael Bradley era. Similar to how Dax McCarty's trade away from New York in 2017 allowed Tyler Adams to flourish in MLS, Edelman's vacancy could open the door for 16-year-old homegrown Adri Mehmeti, who captained RBNY II to the MLS Next Pro championship under Bradley in 2025.

Either way, RBNY will be waving goodbye to another homegrown and fan favorite, and may not be done improving the squad in a number of positions. As it stands, the club's first team only maintains three other deep-lying midfielders apart from Mehmeti in Gustav Berggren, Ronald Donkor and Aiden Jarvis (who is expected to play with RBNY II) after the trades of both Edelman and fellow homegrown Peter Stroud. Additionally, it was recently discovered that the club had a bid rejected for goalkeeper Gavin Beavers, and it is still yet to announce the signing of German center back Robert Voloder.