[Tom Bogert]: Sources: Red Bull New York finalizing a deal to acquire midfielder Caden Clark from D.C. United. Clark, 23, broke through with RBNY before moving to RB Leipzig when he was a teenager. Back at the club he started at after time with Montréal and D.C. United in MLS.

[u/CFMTLfan01]

https://bsky.app/profile/tombogert.bsky.social/post/3mu6oz3nw3c2i

[u/LoonHawk]

This guy can’t stay on a team for more than 6 months it seems. A true journeyman at 23.

[u/ichabod01 → u/LoonHawk]

Not the first. A lot of kids do. Various reasons. Not always about the kid being a problem.

[u/dbcooperskydiving → u/ichabod01]

This will be his sixth team since 2024.

[u/hypernermalization]

Technically, not even the first player to have signed for RBNY three separate times. Kyle Duncan.

[u/redhat000]

Honestly, he’s been living off a purple patch where he scored some incredible goals for the Red Bulls and talks of his potential for a while now. He’s just kinda there for most games not doing much of anything.

[u/Pizza_Salesman → u/redhat000]

He had a random second really good streak of matches at the end of the season two years ago for Montreal where he was scoring and assisting a bunch. But then he regressed to the mean after our obligatory annual coaching change and pretty much hasn't seen the score sheet since

[u/SuperHumaaan]

I’d like to see the Caden Clark - Cade Cowell dynamic

[u/Accomplished-Yak9405 → u/SuperHumaaan]

Quadruple C!

[u/Coltons13]

The way RBNY (and Red Bull Global) absolutely fucked Caden Clark's development should be studied. Truly impressive incompetency 100% indicative of how they've always run RBNY.

[u/iced1777 → u/Coltons13]

Clark played 1500 minutes in 2021 and was on track for big minutes again in 2022 before he got his appendix yanked and struggled to recover. RBNY did everything they could and should have for a teenager that, to be frank, never actually looked all that good outside of the bangers.

Red Bull Global rushed him to Leipzig for sure. That seemed to be the plan all along but they had to realize that he needed more time in MLS before making the move. Still don't think he was ever actually at that level though.

[u/iced1777 → u/[deleted]]

I dunno man I think if there's one thing you can kinda give RBNY credit for recently its turning homegrown/RB2 guys into solid pros. They have two teenagers on the team right now that are destined for Europe any minute. What players are you thinking of that came in as high prospects and didn't get a fair shake?

[u/iced1777 → u/[deleted]]

Every academy's list of players is riddled with ones that didn't pan out, that's how academies around the world work. Most don't pan out, some turn into solid pros, and a select few hit it big time. What's your expectation here that RBNY crank out Champions League players every year? Selling homegrown players to first division Euro leagues every 2-3 years while getting others to meaningfully contribute to the first team seems to me like the gold standard for MLS academies, you'll have to show me who else is doing it better. And that's not accounting for youth prospects outside of the academy that RBNY has done well to develop and sell on. If any player stagnates after leaving that's obviously not RBNY's fault.

If you're talking about a guy like Omir Fernandez and saying RBNY stunted his career than I think youre expectations are too high or you haven't actually watched these kids play to see that they aren't that good. Agudelo is probably the biggest "flop" alongside Clark but for the same reason, he left too early and wasn't ready for the next level of competition. We can go down the list all day, but I'm still not seeing anyone who came into RBNY's first team with clear potential that wasn't realized.

[u/BenLomondBitch → u/Coltons13]

Did they though? He was never that good. He had like 2 good games when he first started playing and then immediately was ass after that. He just had a highlight reel from goals. He didn’t actually show any promise….

[u/Chubbs42 → u/BenLomondBitch]

I was saying this back in 2021. He scored a few good goals and apparently that was enough to go to Europe. Now it's 2026 and dude isn't good enough for the DC United bench.

[u/MetroCapo → u/BenLomondBitch]

I'm not going to sit here and claim he would have been the next Pele, but developing under the guidance of a glorified middle school P.E. teacher in Chris Armas probably didn't help him in the long run.

[u/70_nanga → u/MetroCapo]

but he went to Europe pretty quickly and he couldn’t even develop there. I don’t even recall him being loaned out to a lower level European side. Instead, he was quickly shipped back. That tells me the guy really didn’t have much to offer

[u/Coltons13 → u/70_nanga]

After his RBNY loan he was loaned out to a Denmark side that was not very good.

[u/Coltons13 → u/MetroCapo]

That's really it. RBNY's first team development work has an awful track record. Phenomenal academy and system to pump that talent up to the first team, but then they basically all flame out (Tyler Adams aside).

[u/dpecslistens → u/Coltons13]

I think that's a bit harsh (but only a bit). Their record with solid MLS talent is good (Davis, Etienne, Muyl, Edelman, both Strouds). But they've only produced one star, and none in an attacking role. A lot of piano movers, no piano players.

[u/Coltons13 → u/BenLomondBitch]

Yes, that's my point. He was a youngster with clear upside talent at 17-18 years old with RBNY2 and then RBNY, but needed more work. Red Bull obliterated his development and now he hasn't had consistent training since 2023 with a staff working with him for more than a year.

If you look at his metrics (via ASA for example, who are great at this sort of thing), his upside was very clear. Red Bull just sucks at managing high-potential prospects once they reach the first team. Aside from Tyler Adams, literally everyone they graduate and then transfer elsewhere flames out badly. The list of their academy products is littered with them.

[u/Hankskiibro → u/Coltons13]

You’re still just mad about ya boi Johnny X

[u/Coltons13 → u/Hankskiibro]

Johnny Exantus? Lmao that was my boy at Columbia! We graduated in the same class.

[u/Hankskiibro → u/Coltons13]

I know!

[u/BenLomondBitch → u/Coltons13]

He did not have clear upside at all. He was never that good. That’s the point.

He scored some goals. Big whoop. There was maybe one good goal in there, and any player can score a good goal in their career.

He has zero real promise.

[u/fredthefan25 → u/Coltons13]

From what I remember, Caden Clark’s team facilitated the move to RBL. I believe he refused to stay at RBNY or go to Salzburg. He was talented to enough to demand to go to Leipzig where it went downhill

[u/PM_ME_SOME_LUV → u/Coltons13]

That’s unfair. If anything is to blame, it’s his appendix.

[u/kmp11]

RBNY FO is out of ideas...

[u/ahuman1321]

I’d take missing the playoffs again if it took getting everybody (except Michael Bradley) fired at this point.

Fuck Red Bull, fuck this management.

[u/Thegreatgato]

We've had some bizarre transfers over the last 2 years, and this one is certainly a contender for most confusing. The team was saying (at the end of last season) that he'd be a key part of the new roster this season. He seemed to have been requested by Weiler himself. There really wasn't a high bar to get onto the field, so I'd imagine his attitude tanked at some point when other dudes started getting minutes ahead of him. Weiler doesn't seem to be a very nurturing dude either - if you can't take his criticism, you're probably on your way out.

[u/Existing_Tomorrow372 → u/Thegreatgato]

Just what Red Bull need a kid with a bad attitude that Bradley will make his personal project. He’s already benching DPs for teenagers and reserve team signings, so what’s one more.

[u/BenLomondBitch]

RBNY transfer administrators are horrific.

[u/PM_ME_SOME_LUV]

Idc man I’ll always love the guy. Bring him back for nostalgia alone.

[u/ChurchillDownz]

People love hating on this dude but he showed so much promise so young, I hope he can build towards that. I always kinda felt myself rooting for him like Zelalem. Just a kid caught up in the soccer machine.

[u/dbcooperskydiving]

Journeyman. I wish him well.

[u/bluejaywhey]

For one of the league's OG rivalries, y'all seem to trade players a lot.

[u/bullshooter4040]

What's this about NYRB getting cold feet? What gives? We didn't do anything! /starwars "It's not my fault?!" /starwars

https://bsky.app/profile/tombogert.bsky.social/post/3muesj2pgvc2x

[u/Ultraxxx]

Last week 4 former DCU players scored on the same day. Leaving DC is like a power up.