Red Bulls Linked to Touré and Van Der Vaart

Could the Red Bulls be bringing in two high priced veterans?

The Red Bulls rumor mill has hooked two big fish with, Marca claiming that the New York Red Bulls are interested in Real Betis midfielder Rafael van der Vaart and Manchester City midfielder Yaya Touré.

Van der Vaart, now 33, previously played for Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid. He typically plays center attacking midfield and is a playmaker known for his deadly left foot, set piece taking ability, and long shots. He has only made nine appearances for Betis this season, and hasn't featured since a January 9^th match against Getafe CF.

Van der Vaart is believed to be interested in moving to Major League Soccer and has been linked with Sporting Kansas City and Columbus Crew SC in addition to the Red Bulls. Van der Vaart was in negotiations with Sporting KC last summer, according to the team's CEO, but failed to agree to a deal.

Sporting KC no longer holds a discovery claim on van der Vaart, according to MLSsoccer.com, although due to the lack of transparency with MLS discovery claims there is no way of knowing if another team has added him to their list.

Yaya Touré is a central midfielder who currently plays for Manchester City, but has expressed his desire to see out his contract with speculation that he could move to New York City FC, an affiliate team of Man City. His contract in Manchester ends in Spring 2017.

The Red Bulls and Orlando City SC were linked with Touré in the Marca report, which also speculated the Ivorian could move to the Chinese Super League (CSL), although it is believed that he would prefer a move to MLS.

Both targets seem highly unlikely for the Red Bulls to pursue given their recent shift in signing philosophy to younger talent, and academy players.

What do you think about these rumors? Should the Red Bulls pursue either player?