Douglas Martinez is a New York Red Bulls player, says Douglas Martinez

Douglas Martinez's departure for the New York Red Bulls was covered by the Honduran press a few days ago. And he was revealed to be at Red Bull Arena for RBNY's game against D.C. United on April 15. It should be only a matter of time before his signing is officially announced by RBNY (or, more likely, NYRB II).

Until then, a little further confirmation: the 19-year-old Honduras U-20 Men's National-Teamer's last Instagram post was a thank-you-and-farewell to those who have helped his career to date for club (Vida in the Honduran top flight) and country.

Por este medio Quiero dar mis mas sincero agradecimiento a toda la Junta Directiva,Cuerpo Tecnico, y a mis Compañeros del @cdsvida y de la @fenafuthorg fue un gusto y un honor haber compartido estos 3 años y medio en el equipo Gracias por confiar en mi desde el primer dia que llegue a las reservas del equipo... Me voy de una manera inesperada porque no pude despedirme de ustedes pero les deseo lo mejor Ustedes son unos guerreros y buenas personas ya ven que cuando se quiere se puede hacerlo Mil Gracias Por Todo❤ Arriba Cocoteros

A post shared by DM19 Douglas Martinez (@douglas_martinez19) on Apr 13, 2025 at 9:59am PDT

He references having to leave a little unexpectedly in that post, and that aligns with the expectation that had made its way into the public domain: that he would defer his transfer to New York until after the U-20 World Cup.

What spurred the change of plans? We will likely never know. But the team he is expected to play for this season - NYRB II - does have injury problems at the moment. The U-20 World Cup start on May 20 and Martinez is expected to be part of the Honduras squad for that tournament, so he probably doesn't have long with RBNY before he has to join his national team's preparations for the big trip to South Korea. But injury-hit NYRB II could maybe use the help in the meantime, and he presumably would benefit from the playing time.

It will now be a surprise if Martinez's signing is not officially announced shortly by RBNY. Certainly, it seems it will be a surprise to the player himself, who is already attached to the club in his own mind.

instagram.com

H/T @Jerzyiroc