Noah Powder has parted ways with the New York Red Bulls and is currently exploring opportunities abroad, Once A Metro can confirm, per sources familiar with the player’s situation.
The 19-year-old is a Red Bulls Academy product, who made 20 appearances for RBNY’s second team while still a schoolboy in 2016. That season brought him USL regular-season and Cup titles, and his first goal at the pro level.
Powder looked overseas for opportunities in 2017, but ultimately signed his first professional contract with the RBNY II team in July. In a curtailed season, he made 10 appearances.
Able to play on both sides of the field, in defense and midfield, Powder was primarily regarded as left-back in the Red Bulls’ set-up. As such, he had appeared to be a homegrown candidate for the role of successor to first-team starter Kemar Lawrence. He was one of five players retained on USL contracts from RBNY II’s 2017 season, and had been expected to continue with the reserve team in 2018.
Powder’s exit adds to the Red Bulls’ impressive list of youth-international caliber, Academy full backs who are not attached to the club. That list includes Matt Olosunde (currently in Manchester United’s U-23 squad), Marcello Borges (trained with RBNY last year and played for the RBNY U-23s in PDL; assumed to be staying in college for now), and Chris Gloster, reportedly on trial at Schalke. All three players have represented the US at youth international level. Powder is US-born, but has played his national-team soccer for Trinidad and Tobago’s U-17 and U-20 teams.
Another ex-Academy, former USYNT full-back, Kyle Duncan, has recently returned to RBNY - joining the current preseason camp on trial after a couple of seasons with French club Valenciennes. Duncan’s return illustrates the point that gone does not mean forgotten, and players often do cross paths with former clubs as their careers progress.
For now, however, Powder is gone and Duncan is part of RBNY’s project to build full-back depth for 2018 and beyond. That project currently includes two contracted USL players (Ethan Kutler and Andrew Lombard), two pre-season trialists (Duncan and Ismaila Jome), one 2018 draft pick (Niko De Vera), as well as first-teamers Kemar Lawrence, Amir Murillo and Connor Lade - with multiple players, including Tyler Adams and Fidel Escobar - able to cover the position. So the full-back cupboard is not bare, but Powder’s departure furthers the impression that RBNY is good at recruiting elite talent at the position, less good at retaining that talent.
Once A Metro wishes Noah Powder every success as he continues his career.
Originally published on onceametro.com