Reports: Marc Rzatkowski set for loan from RB Salzburg to New York Red Bulls

If it’s not careful, RBNY may need to rebrand itself RB Rehab.

The Austrian press would appear to be in near-unanimous agreement that RB Salzburg is readying to send one of its players on loan to its American sibling, New York Red Bulls.

Marc “Ratchet” Rzatkowski is a well-traveled, 27-year-old midfielder. He played for Bochum, Arminia Bielefeld, and St. Pauli - mostly in 2. Bundesliga - before moving to RB Salzburg in the summer of 2016.

Since landing in Salzburg, he has not been entirely successful in forcing his way into the first team: 27 appearances in all competitions for the Red Bull side is one fewer than he managed in league games alone in his last season at St. Pauli. Transfermarkt.com believes Rzatkowski’s injuries and absences have cost him 100 days since May of 2017, which might go some way to explaining his limited playing time.

Kronen Zeitung suggests the loan to RBNY will be for a year. Salzburger Nachrichten notes the player is contracted to Salzburg until 2020, and the loan would be for “game practice”.

From Austria’s perspective, there is something to recommend the move: the last player Salzburg sent to New York, Fredrik Gulbrandsen, has enjoyed regular minutes since returning to Austria after a brief stint with RBNY.

The synergy loan who preceded Gulbrandsen, Omer Damari, was attached to RB Leipzig, not Salzburg. On return to Germany, he got the move back to Israel it was suspected he’d have preferred to time in New York.

In both cases, it’s hard to argue that RBNY got the best out of either player, but they each seemed to get what they had been hoping for out of the loan. And so it would seem the New York side of the RB family may be asked to continue its role as Papa Red Bull’s home for damaged reputations.