Dylan Nealis has not had much stability throughout his MLS career, so it feels like it is only par for the course that his standing within Red Bull New York’s back line is erring toward uncertainty.
The natural right-back has been asked to move to center-back to start the 2026 MLS season by first-year head coach Michael Bradley after the club parted ways with Alexander Hack, Noah Eile, and Nealis’s older brother Sean.
“I was a little bit surprised,” Nealis told amNewYork. “I thought toward the end of last season, I was playing my best soccer. But I think I’m pretty confident and comfortable playing anywhere along the back line.
“I was looking forward to the opportunity. I had a few games there before, whether it was a back three or a back five. It’s all the same to me.”
The early returns have been plenty promising. Nealis and new signing Justin Che, a natural right-back himself, have teamed up in the middle of New York’s defense to anchor a unit that has allowed just a single goal in the first two matches of the new season.
How long he’ll stay there, though, is a significant question. Last week, Red Bull signed 20-year-old Colombian center-back Julián Bazán, and the early expectation is that he will slot into a starting role when his paperwork is cleared and properly ramps up.
New York had also signed former Sporting KC veteran Robert Voloder to contribute at center back, with initial expectations that he would start. But the German has to appear in each of the first two matches.
If that is still the case and the club has starting aspirations for Voloder, a tandem with Bazán would force Che to move back to right-back, meaning there is no place for Nealis to go — especially with Red Bull Leipzig youngster Joyeux Masanka Bungi factoring in as well during his short-term loan that runs through June 30.
“I don’t let it try and affect me,” he said. “I’m just going to do my thing, get ready for training, and train as well as I can. You can only control what you can control, and that’s coming to training every day, playing your best, and working your hardest.”
Nothing is set in stone, of course. Bradley has made it clear that the in-form man will play regardless of preseason notions.
“I think that’s always the goal,” Nealis said. “It’s to give your coach as hard of a decision as possible. You don’t want it to be easy. It creates some healthy competition in the group, and that only improves the team, improves training, and then improves the standards each and every day.”
