Red Bull New York is pursuing a Mexican international who was part of the country’s World Cup roster this summer.
The Red Bulls are looking to bring in attacking midfielder Brian Gutierrez from Liga MX side Chivas de Guadalajara, amNewYork reported on Thursday.
Gutierrez made four appearances — two of which were starts — during Mexico’s run in the World Cup, which ended in the Round of 16 during a wild match against England at Estadio Azteca. He made the move to Chivas last December after time with the Chicago Fire, appearing in 24 matches across all competitions and recording two goals and an assist.
The report didn’t indicate how close to a deal the Red Bulls were for the 23-year-old.
In a conversation with The Post last week, Red Bull New York head of sport Julian de Guzman said that the club’s strategy when it comes to the transfer window is using player acquisitions “intelligently.”
“We want to play a certain style of football and it requires a lot of running,” de Guzman said. “It requires being intense. It requires the repeat over and over and over again. And scientifically, you want to get a player of that ability to compete at that level every day.”
The Red Bulls have already done business once with Chivas, bringing in winger Cade Cowell during the offseason, and also adding another Liga MX wing in Jorge Ruvalcaba.
De Guzman pointed to both additions as examples of “spending to bring in a player” of that “stature” and noted that another big factor is how any player that comes in fits in with the players the club has developed.
“How are they as a human being? And that’s the one thing I could say is such a big factor when you’re identifying these players that come in,” he said. “Who are the guys that are coming around this nucleus of talented players we have locally to elevate the team based on their qualities?”
A player like Gutierrez could give the Red Bulls an offensive boost, especially for a squad that has leaned heavily this season on 18-year-old star Julian Hall.
Hall himself has earned quite a bit of interest due to his strong play this season and multiple reports have indicated that European clubs are monitoring his development.
Marseille of France’s Ligue 1, Newcastle United of England’s Premier League, and Atletico Madrid of Spain’s La Liga have kicked the tires about Hall’s potential availability, according to amNewYork, however, the outlet also reported that it would take a “miracle” for the Red Bulls to sell Hall during the summer transfer window.
Red Bull Leipzig, which is also owned by Red Bull New York’s parent company Red Bull GmbH, and Premier League side Hull City have also expressed interest.
