Michael Murillo impressed the Red Bulls so much that he is not a loan player anymore. (Photo courtesy of MLS)

There’s no doubt today that Michael Amir Murillo is a Red Bull.

Well, the Panamanian international defender did play with the team during the 2017 season as a loan player from San Francisco FC in his native country. But Murillo officially is a member of the Major League Soccer club as of Monday.

That’s when the team exercised a contract option to purchase the 21-year-old’s contract.

“We are pleased to add Amir on a permanent basis,” Red Bulls sporting director Denis Hamlett said in a statement. “He showed well and has made progress as a player during his time here. He is building on the positive qualities we saw when we were scouting him, and we look forward to him contributing to our success moving forward.”

Murillo played in 17 games last season, performing at outside and center back. He scored twice and finished in the top five on the team in interceptions (41) and clearances (56).

A native of Panama City, Murillo has been a regular on the Panamanian national side that secured its first ever World Cup berth at Russia 2018.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.