A weekly collection of links to satiate your Red Bull (team, not the drink) cravings. And some other links of interest.

A New Jersey judge rules the Red Bulls owe taxes on Red Bull Arena. Reports say the team plans to appeal. [Bloomberg Businessweek]

PPL Park and the Philadelphia Union will host the 2012 MLS All-Star Game. [SB Nation]

But that can get complicated when management won't even acknowledge your existence.

Reports have been surfacing, rather steadily, from South America that the Venezuelan international has been in talks with the Red Bulls, with the first report surfacing Jan. 6 in El Nacional that there is, according to Google Translate, "latent interest" in the keeper and that Vega even vacationed in New York. Playing in New York, he said, was "that last experience (I wish I had) before retiring."

With Frank Rost out and Bouna Coundoul and Alex Horwath released, adding the man who backstopped Venezuela to a fourth place Copa America finish seemed like a great option.

Then another report surfaced Jan. 18 - six days after the Bulls drafted Ryan Meara - that the Red Bulls were still in talks with Vega, despite GM Erik Soler denying the club's interest. He told reporters covering Caracas FC "Things are going forward very nicely ... Aside from the Red Bulls, another team came out (with interest)."

Jan. 21 Soler came straight out and told reporters "I’ve never heard of him, so that must be just a rumor." Two days later, another report surfaced, this time from the Spanish-language arm of MLSsoccer.com, that he'd "go with his eyes closed to New York" and that he'd like very much to play in the U.S.

Quite a change of tone on Vega's part, huh? And all of this while Soler and Head Coach Hans Backe continue to deny the rumors and went ahead and signed keeper Jeremy Vuolo from Finland.

There are really only two options to the Vega rumors: Either Vega was contacted, probably informally, by the Red Bulls and the team backed out for one reason or another (Age? Vega is 32. Play? Seems like he could be streaky, especially when abroad) or Vega wants to play in New York badly enough he just made up the rumors, hoping they'd make their way up to North America, with the idea that if it doesn't work out, no one would be any the wiser. The Red Bulls recent moves in goal seem to negate a third option: That the team really is actively seeking Vega and just don't want anyone to know for one reason or another.

Either way Vega seems a bit like a desperate teenager in all this, either concocting stories about how much the team wants him or twisting any attention he gets into something way more tangible than it really was. Now he looks like the dejected admirer, backing off his rather public statements about the affection team and player had for one another after team pretty publicly dismisses them.

According to Erik Soler, the Red Bulls are expecting to sign a central midfielder next week. He told the New York Post...

"One or two, I hope that we can announce it at the end of next week,’’ said Backe. "We’re looking for a versatile midfield player, because as I said what I’ve learned in this league is that you can’t have experts. (You need) a guy in midfield that can play wide or central. My hope is that we can announce it at the end of next week.’’

This mystery player isn't expected to be a "classic No. 10" but "more of a holding midfielder with some attacking qualities."

It's been a long time coming, though, Soler didn't make clear if it would be one of the "young Americans with international experience" he was promising in late December.

While the Tim Ream and Juan Agudelo (outgoing) rumor mill continues to churn, the New York Red Bulls may be on the verge of adding several new players to their squad, providing some badly needed depth for the 2012 campaign. Once a Metro has learned that Victor Pálsson, most recently of Scottish club Hibernian and formerly part of the Liverpool youth set up, is in discussions to join the Red Bulls. At just 20 years old - and with a number of international appearances for Icelandic youth teams under his belt - Pálsson would give Hans Backe a number of options in midfield.

The other name to appear on the Red Bulls' radar today is Tom Williams, an English player with Cypriot roots who has bounced around England's lower leagues over the past ten years, including spells with Queen's Park Rangers, Peterborough United and Walsall. Williams' recent posts on his Twitter account indicate that he will be joining up with New York's squad on Monday for training. It's unclear whether Williams has signed a contract or if this is a trial. Williams is most experienced as a left back - a position at which the Red Bulls are painfully thin at the moment, with only Roy Miller to count on.

Meanwhile, New York's goalkeeping situation is still up in the air. Jeremy Vuolo, who played college soccer at Hartwick and Syracuse before leaving to Finland to play for AC Oulu, has returned to the States to sign for the Red Bulls. he discusses his move with his former PDL club Reading United here. The addition of Vuolo gives the club two good backup options (draftee Ryan Meara being the other), but no true #1.

Finally, Kristian Dyer reports that a number of trialists will be joining camp this week, including one time Red Bulls homegrown signing Giorgi Chirgadze and former New England Revolution player Joseph Niouky. They will join now defunct FCNY standout Jhonny Arteaga.

SBNation's US Soccer editor, Jeremiah Oshan, takes the pulse of the New York Red Bulls as they head into the first full week of training camp and finds a team with a lot more question marks than answers. A great summary of where things stand now, ahead of what should be a very active week.

Remember when the Red Bulls picked up Kenny Cooper and everyone was rightfully confused? It came out, via GM Erik Soler, that it was a depth move and one to hedge against worst case roster scenario.

Well, it turns out Head Coach Hans Backe isn't as rosy on the striker corps as Soler was last week, telling the Post...

I don’t expect (Juan Agudelo and Luke Rodgers) to come back, because I know from last year and 2010 already with the visa problems for Luke, the rumors about Juan of course, today I can’t count on them. Hopefully we’ll have an answer in the next two weeks,’’ Backe told the Post. "We would like to get replacements in if both Juan and Luke are out.’’

We already know the only striker in camp, currently, is Corey Hertzog, but the best of last season's group is well accounted for. Rodgers is working on his visa issues back in England. Agudelo is with the USMNT. Thierry Henry is with Arsenal. But according to Backe, Soler is "involved with the offers that are coming in" from Agudelo. And reading between the lines, Rodgers' visa issues are worse than expected, despite an incident-less 2011.

A closing observation: The Red Bulls were 1-4-9 without Rodgers in the line-up.