New York Red Bulls re-sign defender Dylan Nealis to one-year contract

New York Red Bulls have re-signed defender Dylan Nealis to a one-year contract, extending his stay at the club through the 2024 Major League Soccer season.

Nealis joined Red Bulls in 2022 in a trade with Nashville SC, dishing out three assists in 47 appearances overall.

The player was drafted by Inter Miami in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft, before being traded to Nashville in the early stages of the 2021 campaign. He made 19 appearances for the Herons, while donning the black and yellow of Nashville just four times before joining Red Bulls.

The 25-year-old, who primarily plays as a right-back, started 10 out 19 games played in 2023 and was limited due to mid-season groin injury that kept him sidelined for 13 matches. However, his showings when he was fit have earned him a new deal at the Eastern Conference club.

"We are very excited to keep Dylan with the club," Red Bulls head of sport Jochen Schneider said in a release. "We have seen a lot from Dylan over the last two seasons. He made a big step forward in his development over the last year – on and off the pitch. We are happy to keep consistency within our backline."

Nealis was part of the New York defense that conceded just 39 goals across the 2023 regular season, the fifth-best total among all MLS sides.

New York is still on the search for their next permanent head coach after parting ways with Gerhard Struber mid-season and opting to not retain interim boss Troy Lesesne after he led the team to their 14th straight playoff appearance.

Tying Nealis down for one more year may go under the radar as a solid move by Schneider and the Red Bulls front office to help the next permanent head coach have an easy transition in their first year. in the dugout.

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