Xavi Doesn't Know a Damned Thing About New York

Now that the pesky draft is over with, we can get back to what really matters: Whether or not Xavi will be in a Red Bulls shirt this season.

The newest answer? Maybe.

The Barcelona midfielder, fresh off a FIFA World XI selection, reportedly told Mundo Deportivo he knows "nothing else about New York apart from that it is very cold there."

"Henry has not called me, nor have I spoken with him," Xavi told the Spanish newspaper, in response to reportage that Theirry Henry had reached out to him about playing for the Red Bulls. "I do not have his telephone number."

Xavi's quote should mean the rumor -- a sort of on-again-off-again thing with new tidbits surfacing everyday -- is dead and buried. Right?

Well, here's what Head Coach Mike Petke and Sporting Director Andy Roxburgh had to say about the rumor at this week's SuperDraft.

First, Petke, as per MLSsoccer.com's Simon Borg...

"You never know with Red Bull," Petke said. "If we feel it's the right fit in the field and Red Bull feel it's the right fit in the marketing sense, then anything can happen.

"As of now, I don't think we're going to be announcing in the next week that we're going to be signing Xavi or anybody. But it's a player that's coming up on a contract soon. You never know."

Roxburgh...

"To have a player like him on your team would be sent from heaven," Roxburgh said. "But all I'm going to say to you is he's signed up with Barcelona through what, 2016? So he's somebody else's player. There's nothing for us to talk about at this moment in time.

"But if you asked me would I like to have Xavi? Of course. That's another discussion. He'd be phenomenal for the league and phenomenal for us. But in the short term, I can't imagine such a thing happening."

That's hardly a convincing denial from either man. Borg isn't buying it either, as Roxburgh wouldn't rule out a post-World Cup summer signing, "when world stars sometimes move in the aftermath of the tournament," Borg wrote, "players like Xavi."