Florian Valot was originally brought in on March 11 as a trialist for New York Red Bulls II.
Between March and June, Valot played in one preseason USL game and three New York Red Bulls U-23 games. He impressed, and eventually signed with Red Bulls II on June 25, 2016.
Prior to joining the Red Bulls, the Frenchman played two season at Rider University. There the midfielder made 34 appearances, scoring 13 goals and recording six assists.
The 23-year-old appeared in 17 regular season games this past season with Red Bulls II, and totaled 951 minutes played.
He made his first regular season appearance on June 26th, where he recorded an assist. Valot scored his first goal on July 19, giving Red Bulls II the 2-1 victory. Over the regular season, Valot scored two goals and recorded six assists, tied for the most on the team and seventh most in the league. Of the players who recorded the same or more assists, he did it while appearing in the least games.
In the playoffs, he appeared in all four games and played 328 minutes. He scored the tying goal for Red Bulls II that took the team to overtime against Louisville City FC, where they won on PKs. He also recorded an assist in the playoffs to bring his season totals to 21 games, 1,279 minutes played, three goals, and seven assists.
New York was a remarkable 17-2-2 in the 21 games Valot played in this season. He started 13 times and came off the bench the other eight. His contributions in the high press combined with his offensive creativity will help him be an asset to the Red Bulls organization in 2017.
When asked about what players may compete for a spot on the first team next year, Jesse Marsch said the following about Valot during the end of year press conference on November 10, 2016: “I think Florian Valot and Vincent Bezecourt had great seasons, and they’ve shown…that they’re very good attacking players in that league. They’re smart, they’re creative, they fit the way we play.”
