New York Red Bulls Add Uruguayan Felipe Carballo from Gremio on Loan 

HARRISON, N.J. (August 15, 2024) – The New York Red Bulls have added Uruguayan international Felipe Carballo from Gremio on a one-year loan with an option to purchase pending the receipt of his P-1 visa, the deal was completed before the close of MLS Secondary Transfer Window, the club announced today. Carballo will be a Designated Player for the club.  

“Felipe [Carballo] has a proven track record of success, and we are very excited to add such an experienced player to our roster,” said Head of Sport Jochen Schneider. “We are looking forward to him getting on the pitch at Red Bull Arena and helping us continue our push to the postseason.”

Carballo, 27, joins New York after spending the last two seasons at Gremio, which plays in Serie A, the top division of soccer in Brazil. Carballo has made 54 appearances since signing for the club in 2023, where he has contributed two goals and one assist. He won two Campeonato Gaucho’s in 2023 and 2024 and won one Recopa Gaucha in 2023 with Gremio. 

“I am looking forward to begin working with Felipe on the pitch, his experience will help our roster as we go into the last nine games of the regular season,” said Head Coach Sandro Schwarz. “He is a skillful midfielder, who will help anchor our midfield and we are happy to have him at our club.” 

Prior to joining Gremio, Carballo had two stints at Club Nacional, which plays in the Primera Division, the first division of soccer in Uruguay. In total, he made 178 professional appearances for the club, where he scored 24 goals and tallied 12 assists. During his time at Nacional, he helped the club win four Primera Division titles in 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2021, and won two Supercopa Uruguaya’s in 2018 and 2019. Carballo was voted Player of the Year with Club Nacional in 2021. He made his first team debut for the club on February 28, 2016 against Plaza Colonia and scored his first professional goal on April 10, 2016 in a 4-2 win over Defensor Sporting. 

Carballo has featured for the Uruguayan National Team, making his debut for his country on March 24, 2023, in a 1-1 draw against Japan. The midfielder has made seven career appearances for Uruguay, including three appearances in CONEMBOL World Cup qualifying at the end of 2023. Carballo has also appeared for the Uruguay U-17 Youth National Team as well.

The move adds another midfielder to the mix, based on analytics he is not the strongest defender in midfield and is more offensive minded. His offensive production career wise places him closest to Lewis Morgan and higher than Carmona and Donkor. Important to note the last time he was a huge contributor to his team’s offense was during his Nacional stint. Since then he has managed 0-3 goals and 0-2 assists a season.

Will see how he does under the Sandro Schwarz playing style, it could reinvigorate the once offensive threat given majority of the team goals come from the midfield for #RBNY, the question now is who does he replace or does Sandro move Lewis up to forward and play Forsberg (if healthy), Stroud (if healthy) Carballo, Edelman? We have seen Lewis and Dante play up top together so it is a strong possibility.