Reports out this afternoon have the New York Red Bulls making a big-time attacking addition before the MLS transfer window slams shut on August 3rd.
BBC football correspondent Raphael Gellar and Leipzig-based journalist Guido Schäfer are both reporting that RB Leipzig striker, Omer Damari might be joining the New York Red Bulls on loan until the end of the season.
RB Leipzig management has informed Omer Damari that he will be sent on-loan to the New York Red Bulls until the end of the season.
— Raphael Gellar (@Raphael_Gellar) August 1, 2016
Well well: Omer Damari geht offenbar zu Red Bull New York
— Guido Schäfer (@schfer_g) August 1, 2016
Damari, 27, spent last year on loan at Red Bull Salzburg where he played 16 games and scored four goals as Salzburg went on to win their seventh league title in nine years. He has not scored in his 11 appearances for RB Leipzig, all coming in 2015, though he has assisted on four goals. Damari is also part of the Israeli National Team having played 20 matches for team since 2010, scoring nine goals in the process.
Damari, who first arrived at Leipzig from Austria Wien in 2015 for a reported 5.5 million Euros, never quite caught on as New York's German brethren made the charge towards the Bundesliga. He has been labeled the "most expensive fourth league player" by Bild as he has been working with the Leipzig U-23s, waiting for a move.
The striker only spent six months at Austria Wien before moving to Leipzig. In Vienna, he continued the goalscoring prowess he showed in Israel (105 goals in 271 appearances), scoring 10 goals in only 15 games in Austria. He then moved on to Leipzig in January 2015, earning reported 1.5 million Euros salary.
It is uncertain if this loan, and the player's salary, would make him a Designated Player in MLS or not. Previously, it had been stated by MLS that first team players joining on loan from a club of the same owner would be treated as DPs, however, Matteo Mancosu's loan from Bologna to Montreal this summer appears to run contrary to that rule.
Omer Damari's loan, along with the potential signing of Daniel Royer, would certainly add a bit more bite to a New York Red Bulls attack seeming low on ideas at the moment.
* Update *
Since publishing, Kristian Dyer and (seemingly) Taylor Twellman have added confirmation to the deal.
Per league source, Omer Damari from Red Bull Leipzg will join #RBNY. Striker on the Israeli national team.
— Kristian Dyer (@KristianRDyer) August 1, 2016
.@NewYorkRedBulls getting a new player. https://t.co/MIOG9RILoe
— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) August 1, 2016