Julian de Guzman and Red Bull New York are staying busy throughout this offseason, and the latest move is a big one.
Longtime scapegoat Wiki Carmona is set to leave the club in a one-for-one trade for CF Montreal wingback Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty. Tom Bogert of The Athletic was first.
Carmona, 22, was the longest-tenured member of Red Bull New York following the trade of defender Sean Nealis earlier this offseason. Now, that title belongs to Cameron Harper.
Additionally, it is reported that Montreal will retain a portion of Marshall-Rutty's salary in 2026.
In five seasons with RBNY, Carmona featured in 118 matches across all competitions, scoring 6 goals. Naturally an attacking midfielder, Carmona was regularly used as a winger in 2025 out of necessity under Sandro Schwarz, playing in all 34 regular season MLS matches.
Carmona's best season in red and black came in 2024, particularly as a deep-lying central midfielder providing cover for the then injured Daniel Edelman and the recently transferred Frankie Amaya. It was around this time Head of Sport Jochen Schneider decided to reward the Venezuelan international with a three-and-a-half year contract extension that will follow Carmona to Stade Saputo.
At just 21, Marshall-Rutty will join New York with lots of MLS experience, appearing in 112 matches across three different clubs (Toronto FC, CF Montreal, Charlotte FC). The TFC academy product has featured primarily as a right back throughout his professional career but can play in just about every wide area on the pitch, including as a left back.
The Canadian international will join a crowded room of fullbacks at RBNY, alongside Dylan Nealis, Justin Che, Dennis Gjengaar, Juan Mina, Omar Valencia, and former teammate in Montreal Raheem Edwards. This bottleneck in the wide areas of defense could open the door for additional departures or could cement right backs Nealis and Che as center back options moving forward.
According to Joe Pantorno of amNewYork, the Red Bulls are still going to be active in the transfer market moving forward.
The first match of the 2026 MLS season for New York will be Saturday, Feb. 21 on the road at Inter & Co. Stadium to take on Eastern Conference rival Orlando City S.C.
In the latest episode of Empire Soccer Report, James Birle is joined by Anthony Merced of AJM Sports FC. With plenty of transfer news/rumors, James and Anthony analyze the departure of Noah Eile, the arrivals of Ethan Horvath and DP Jorge Ruvalcaba and more: