Rumor: Miroslav Klose getting closer to joining New York Red Bulls

Sometimes you have to credit a rumor for its persistence.

The notion that Miroslav Klose might head to MLS after his contract with Lazio expires has been around for a while now, flaring up last November...and January...and roaring back to life toward the end of last month. And then, as has been its habit, it receded.

But the last iteration of this rumor brought particularly strong suggestion that the New York Red Bulls - who have been in and out of the ceaseless speculation about Klose's future - were getting very serious about bringing the striker to MLS.

And now the Klose-to-MLS rumor is back with RBNY at its center.

The cause of the rumor's resurgence is the announcement that Miroslav Klose will be leaving Lazio. The team's Twitter account has named May 15 #KloseDay; fans are invited to watch what is now expected to be his last game for Lazio.

#KloseDay
Ci vediamo domenica all'Olimpico per salutare Miro ⚪️ pic.twitter.com/MTBzJc6qbh

— SS Lazio (@OfficialSSLazio) May 10, 2016

15/05/2016 #KloseDay
Stadio Olimpico di Roma, #theplacetobe https://t.co/aRvKGa4YqO pic.twitter.com/TgrumKn2s6

— SS Lazio (@OfficialSSLazio) May 10, 2016

That is a club saying goodbye. And the rumor mill doesn't need a lot of encouragement to start looking for a club that might be about to say hello to Miroslav Klose.

The consensus choice at the moment: the New York Red Bulls.

It's hard to identify exactly why the idea Klose is coming to RBNY has taken hold of the rumor mill. (Perhaps it is as simple as the fact the Red Bulls said they were interested.) In principle, he doesn't fit the club's preferred transfer policy at all: at 37, he is not a player with his best years ahead of him; his reputation would almost certainly demand he get a starting role on the first team; he offers little to the team's long-term goals beyond the fact that it isn't a bad thing to have world-class player in training every day.

For a club that was thought to have moved on from its prior policy of placing world-renowned stars at the center of its roster, and that has a very settled core group of senior players in place for this season, it seems an odd move to bring in a player who would immediately outshine his colleagues and pressure the entire squad to remodel itself to get the best out of him.

But La Repubblica says RBNY is ready to offer a two-year contract: essentially signing Klose up til his 40th birthday (he turns 38 in June of this year). And that story is echoing and amplifying all over the internet at the moment.

More on this to come, no doubt.