Rhode Island FC announce the signing of Eric Klein on loan from the New England Revolution

Today, Rhode Island FC announced the signing of 19-year-old midfielder Eric Klein on loan from the New England Revolution for the remainder of the 2026 season. After recent attacking signings in Osman Foyo and Yutaro Tsukada, RIFC have now made the move to reinforce the midfield.

Background

A native of Manheim, Pennsylvania, Klein signed with the New England Revolution Youth Academy in 2023. He quickly stood out and was the Revolution's Academy Player of the Year in 2024 while playing in MLS Next Pro for Revs II. Klein went on to sign a homegrown contract in May 2025 and made his debut for the Revolution on May 7th against Rhode Island FC in the US Open Cup, playing the entire second half. He would go on to make three more senior appearances that year with one more coming in the Open Cup and a further two in the league.

How has 2026 been?

Klein has spent time between Revs II and the senior team this year. He has 6 appearances with Revs II and 7 with the Revolution so far. All 6 of those games for Revs II have been starts, with his most recent coming this past Sunday against Connecticut United.

As for his appearances for the Revolution, Klein has only played 19 minutes in the league in 5 games. Three of those games saw him come on in or around 2nd half stoppage time, so he only recorded 1 minute of playing time in each of them. For his other two league appearances, he played 5 minutes against Nashville on May 13th and 11 minutes against Charlotte on May 23rd.

His two most relevant games came in the US Open Cup where he played the full 120 minutes against Rhode Island FC in the Round of 32 and the full 90 minutes against Orlando City in the Round of 16. Klein had a solid game against RIFC and stood out against Orlando City where he assisted the first and third Revolution goals in their 4-3 loss.

How does this help RIFC?

With Zachary Herivaux still out injured and Clay Holstad moving to FC Dallas on loan, RIFC have been very light in central midfield. The double pivot of Hugo Bacharach and Amos Shapiro-Thompson has been very effective but beyond the two of them, RIFC hasn't had any natural midfielders to fill in. Dani Rovira (normally a RB) and Dwayne Atkinson (usually a forward) have gotten minutes there recently but it isn't ideal. Adding Klein to the mix should really help solidify that area of the field.

Immediate Reaction

As I just outlined, it was clear RIFC needed a midfielder. While it's worth noting Klein does have experience as a CB, I'm certain he'll be utilized in midfield. But is he the answer? I'm not really sure. I wouldn't blame anyone for having some flashbacks to one Matthew Corcoran, who made 5 appearances (all starts) around this time last year before being recalled by Nashville. However, I do think Klein's situation is probably different than Corcoran's and I wouldn't be surprised if he does in fact last for the rest of the season.

My primary concern with a move like this however, is that I don't want Klein's presence to mess with the Hugo/Amos double pivot. I'm of the opinion that most loan moves, and particularly ones from MLS to the Championship, come with an expectation of not only minutes, but starts. We only have to look back to earlier this season with Logan Dorsey. Dorsey was on loan from Minnesota United to RIFC but wasn't starting (nor should he have been). He was recalled in June and immediately sent back to the Championship to FC Tulsa where he's been starting and getting a lot more minutes.

My hope here is that Klein can start out as a solid squad player and potentially earn a starting role through some great performances rather than be inserted right into the starting 11. With 13 games left in the season, I think there should be enough time for him to make a few appearances off the bench first but given how these loan moves work, I'm not too confident that will be the case. Time will tell.

UP THE TIDE!