Spite will hang in the air, and tackles will roll in hard and heavy at Sports Illustrated Stadium when New York City FC visit Red Bull New York for Walmart Saturday Showdown this weekend (7:30 pm ET | Apple TV).
Few fixtures in MLS feature the level of bad blood found in the Hudson River Derby. It’s similar across all levels, from youth clashes in MLS NEXT all the way up to the senior teams, Red Bulls midfielder Adri Mehmeti explained to MLSsoccer.com from his club's brand-new training facility in Morris Township, New Jersey on Thursday.
“Throughout the whole academy, throughout all the ranks, second team, first team, they're just bragging rights in a derby like that – one of the biggest derbies in the league, probably,” said the homegrown standout, who’s been with his club since age 11.
“Every time I step into one of those games, I just want to give my all and give everything I have, leave the field with no regrets. And I always try to set the tone: try to put in a big tackle to show that me and all of our teammates, the whole group, are here to do business.”
Beyond his years
Vowing to get stuck in early is a common tendency among defensive midfielders, and Mehmeti brings plenty to the table in that department. FotMob data places him in the 89th percentile for defensive contributions, and he ranks similarly highly in tackles, interceptions, recoveries and other related categories (while also posting the highest overall rating among RBNY’s usual starting XI).
Yet what’s truly set him apart in his breakout 2026, reportedly drawing the attention of some of Europe’s biggest clubs at the tender age of 17, is what he’s done with the ball at his feet, the game unfolding one step ahead in his head.
“He is composed and calm and wise beyond his years. Usually when you watch young players play, there's a nervous energy about them,” noted MLS on Apple TV analyst Dax McCarty, a two-time All-Star in his own distinguished central-midfield career who won two Supporters' Shields with the Red Bulls in the 2010s.
“When I was young, my first thought whenever I either subbed into a game or started a game was that I had to be running a million miles an hour all the time. With Mehmeti, it's actually the total opposite. He almost plays the game in a slow way, but his brain plays it in the fastest way possible, which is one of the highest compliments I can give a young player.”
Soccer household
The likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Bayern Munich are said to be tracking the Staten Island native, drawn by a tantalizing toolkit that’s made him arguably MLS's top engine-room prospect. It all traces back to a ball-is-life household that immersed this child of Albanian immigrants in a 24/7 soccer culture from his toddler years.
That’s credit to his father Vani, a semiprofessional player during his younger days and a lifelong lover of the beautiful game who dreamed of someday raising a professional. Coaching Adri’s early youth teams was only part of it. Dad also watched countless pro and international matches with his son and set up regular games and drills around the house to hone his technique.
“For me, it was always the extra hours that I put in, with my dad [or] by myself. It helped a lot,” noted Adri. “So when I could come back into training the next day, I could always be one or two steps ahead.”
Father and son also dig into the training-session footage RBNY circulate to their players, and even crunch tape from their own backyard. The family’s home security cameras capture their one-on-one games, an example of which can be viewed in this profile by Metro Soccer Report.
“We have the Ring camera on top of our garage. So if we ever practice there, we always get the clips after and just look at them and have a good time,” said Adri with a grin.
“I come home from training, and if [Vani]’s not taking me to training, there's soccer on the TV. So he always has a ball at his feet as well. He's always like, 'Hey, let's do a couple headers here, let's do something to touch the ball.' If it’s not anything crazy that's not going to get me tired, I mean, why not? There's always a ball, there's always something football in the house.”
That focus on fundamentals crafted a sturdy foundation that Adri credits for his ability to read the game and execute at a high level, all while outfoxing bigger, faster opponents as he climbed the RBNY ranks. As he grew, his skills blossomed, a process that accelerated once he joined the Red Bulls’ regional development system.
“Even in the offseason, I would train with my dad,” recalled Mehmeti. “We’d do some runs, and he pushed me; I always pushed him.
“I remember the first time I beat him one-v-one. I couldn't stop talking about it for like, five days, six days,” he added. “That was a big milestone.”
Breakthrough moment
The Mehmeti family operates a trucking company, and Vani tries to synchronize long-haul trips with RBNY’s schedule so he can catch their road games. One such occasion enabled him to witness Adri’s first career MLS goal, a key strike in their impressive 2-2 draw at reigning champions Inter Miami CF last month.
A video of Dad’s tearful congratulations was eventually picked up by major media outlets, introducing their backstory to Mehmeti’s rapidly growing ranks of admirers worldwide.
“I showed him the video when it came out,” explained Adri, “and it was probably, what, 100 likes, and then it went viral on FOX Soccer or something. So that was a cool moment for him.
“He tries to come to as many away games as possible for me. I'm so thankful for that, that I have his support. He's been a big help in my career, in my life, and I'm just so thankful for the sacrifices he's made for me.”
Play the kids
Amid the bile, blood and thunder of a rivalry clash, Mehmeti’s task this weekend is to remain cool and composed as he dictates the tempo for head coach Michael Bradley’s new-look RBNY, flashing a passing range way beyond his years.
Advanced data show a caliber of distribution that compares well not only to his MLS peers, but ranks among the very best in the world, with a particular nous for the ‘line-breaking’ passes that unlock defenses. Also ahead of the curve: The scanning that informs his vision and awareness.
“You see the football. You see the intelligence,” said Bradley, an all-time great American midfielder well-equipped to nurture Mehmeti’s development. “But what you don't know when you're just watching on TV or watching from the outside is the personality, and the fearlessness and the love for the game. He has this infectious joy and love of training every day, of playing, of competing, and he doesn't get fazed by anything.”
Mehmeti is one of three teenagers Bradley elevated to his first XI, along with fellow academy products Julian Hall and Matthew Dos Santos, all of whom worked with Bradley to lead RBNY’s second team to the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro title.
That injection of youth has been fully vindicated. Hall leads the team in scoring with nine league goals, placing him in the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi race. Meanwhile, Mehmeti and Dos Santos have generally been excellent for a Red Bulls outfit currently tied with their crosstown rivals for fifth in the Eastern Conference on 18 points from their first 13 games (5W-5L-3D).
Even with FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League veterans like Emil Forsberg and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in the squad, RBNY have handed the keys to the youngest player on the pitch, the one who’s barely old enough to drive.
“When I go out into a derby – into any game – it's finding the right spots, getting myself into the right spaces so I can have as much time as possible when I get the ball, to try to pick out the right pass and play forward,” explained Mehmeti.
“Another big help with that is my teammates encouraging me to get on the ball. Emil always tells me to get on the ball as much as I can and be brave, to play forward. And if I lose a couple, if I make a couple mistakes trying some good ideas, they always say it's no problem. Just [make] the reaction to counterpress and win it back, that's what matters the most.”
American Busquets?
Mehmeti's skill set has drawn comparisons to former Inter Miami superstar Sergio Busquets, perhaps the greatest No. 6 of his generation and the cerebral metronome of the paradigm-shifting FC Barcelona and Spain sides of the 2010s. Indeed, the Barça legend was one of Mehmeti’s role models.
“I always watched [Busquets] growing up,” said Adri, “and I always tried to implement that into my game. To even be compared to a player like him is a big honor. I'm just trying to focus on my game every day, and look at the top 6s in the world and try to see what they're doing that I can add to my game.”
It’s a startling comparison, one that risks saddling a teenager with unfair expectations. Yet McCarty believes it’s not out of line.
“You need to be careful whenever you throw big players, all-time great players’ names out there like that when it comes to young players,” said the 2015 MLS Best XI honoree. “[But] with the way that Mehmeti plays, it certainly looks to me like Busquets was a big influence on him, and he does have similar qualities.”
McCarty guesstimates that Mehmeti will transfer to Europe within the next 18 months, and hopes he’ll land somewhere his possession expertise can be cultivated to the fullest, perhaps in Spain.
“The way that Busquets played, the way that he manipulated the ball, the way that he used his body shape to throw opposition off, the way that Busquets wasn't an athletic specimen – Mehmeti has a lot of similar features,” continued McCarty.
“It took me a long time to figure out at the professional level what my biggest strengths were going to be. At 17, Mehmeti already knows what his biggest strengths are, and he uses them and plays to them in every single game.”
