Red Bulls WON'T be using DP slot until at least the summer (updated post)
Just two days after Bruce Arena said a signing of a designated player was likely, the Red Bulls coach revealed today that the club has had some major setbacks in their quest to add an impact player and that the team likely will not sign anybody before the start of the season.
"I don't think it's going to happen. We've had some setbacks," Arena said of the attempts to add another designated player. "We're not going to do anything that's a mistake so it's highly unlikely that we'll announce a signing next week. We're not ready yet."
With the deadline for teams to be salary cap compliant set for next Friday, March 1st, the Red Bulls appear ready to hold on to their second designated player slot until the summer transfer window. As disappointing as this is for Red Bulls fans who had visions of Zinedine Zidane in their head, they should at least take heart in knowing the club isn't going to rush to sign someone for the sake of signing someone. The club has had enough failed foreign signings through the years to remind us that sometimes you're better off doing nothing than doing something really bad (Peter Canero and Sergio Galvan Rey anybody?).
So what were the setbacks? It is easy to speculate that perhaps Agustin Delgado couldn't get his clearance from the Ecuadorian federation to allow his transfer despite his suspension, but I haven't heard that for sure. Those who believe that Zidane was close to happening will probably believe that the Red Bulls fell short in luring the Frenchman out of retirement (don't buy that one).
Should we expect any moves to get some help for Jozy?
Posted by: A Diddy | February 23, 2007 at 01:20 PM
Here we go yoyoing again...
MLS finally feels like a league to me... This off-season has definitely been the most exciting and I think they'll keep getting better with time...
Posted by: ag nigrin | February 23, 2007 at 04:27 PM
I just read a Reuters report saying that FIFA has ratified that 12-month ban on Delgado. (You can find it on Yahoo World Soccer) If that DP slot was indeed going to be used for Delgado, it would explain today's announcement by the Red Bulls.
Posted by: Howard Hamilton | February 23, 2007 at 05:42 PM