Two of the New York Red Bulls’ marquee offseason signings, defender Marcelo Morales and striker Wiktor Bogacz, will have to wait a little longer for their team debuts.
Head coach Sandro Schwarz revealed on Thursday that neither player will be available for New York’s home opener on Saturday night against Nashville. Bogacz is dealing with a back issue while Morales picked up a knee injury. Neither have a specific timetable for a return.
“It’s difficult to say [when they’ll be back],” Schwarz said. “We have to build up each individual to know that we don’t have to take a risk for [further] injuries or something like that. It’s very important because then there’s also a new workload, a new country, a new league. We have to be careful with these guys, with these young players, because it’s a long season and we don’t want to take a risk. It’s difficult to say how long. Two, three, four weeks, like this. We’ll see.”
After a months-long pursuit, the Red Bulls finally hammered out a deal with Morales, a 21-year-old Chilean international, earlier this month. He is expected to help fill the void alongside Raheem Edwards and Cameron Harper at the left wing-back spot left by John Tolkin, who was transferred to German Bundesliga side Holstein Kiel in January.
Bogacz, 20, will provide added depth up front to a Red Bulls team that is lacking just that at the start of the 2025 MLS season. Behind the headlining new signing, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, backup options Serge Ngoma and Roald Mitchell are also out injured.
Coming over from Miedz Legnica of the Betclic 1 Liga, the second tier of Polish soccer, he posted eight goals and two assists in 27 appearances.
