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As one of the craziest transfer months in the history of MetroStars/Red Bulls comes to a close, we have been left with at least one rumor that could be as game-changing (and/or polarizing) as any to have ever come across the wire.
According to a Tweet by transfer insider MLS Transfers, USMNT and Hamburger SV (Hamburg) striker Bobby Wood has “admirers” - which include MSV Duisburg of Germany’s 2. Bundesliga and the New York Red Bulls.
Born in Hawaii, Wood has played his entire professional career in Germany, scoring 46 goals in 177 appearances since his debut in the 2009-10 season. He truly burst onto the scene during his 2015-16 seasons, scoring 17 goals in 31 games for Union Berlin while scoring 8 goals in 24 caps for the USMNT over that two-year period.
He is currently on a four-year contract with Hamburg and will remain under contract through at least the summer, but MLS Transfers noted that if the club gets relegated (currently four points below the red line as of writing) then they plan to re-evaluate their entire roster before the next season.
Wood is not on the MLS Allocation List.
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The Red Bulls have signed Red Bull Salzburg attacking midfielder Marc Rzatkowski on loan for the 2018 season.
The German midfielder made a name for himself in 2. Bundesliga, recording 15 goals and 23 assists between stints with VfL Bochum and FC St. Pauli from 2012-2016. Last season, his first with the Red Bull family, he helped Salzburg win the Austrian double.
But as with other loanees RBNY has received from the other Red Bull Global clubs, injuries have hampered his ability to break into a stacked Salzburg team this year.
Rzatkowski becomes the third player to join the New York Red Bulls from one of its European sister clubs: The team signed Omer Damari as a DP from RB Leipzig in summer 2016, then Fredrik Gulbrandsen from Salzburg in 2017. (The two combined for one goal and one assist in 471 total minutes.)
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Conflicting reports continue to surround the ongoing transfer saga of Huracan No. 10 Alejandro Romero “Kaku” Gamarra. The transfer fee is alleged to be in the area of $5-6.2 million for the 23-year-old Argentine.
Most recently, Huracan chairman Alejandro Nadur expressed his frustration at how complicated the sale was and indicated that Kaku might stay with his team after all.
However, the latest report from Brian Pecora (as of ~9:00 am on 01/31/18) is that Huracan and RBNY are taking another swing at closing the deal.
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Kemar Lawrence is not desperate to leave the New York Red Bulls, but he is not anywhere close to giving up in his attempt to play in Europe - specifically Turkey, though perhaps preferably the Turkish Super Lig.
MLS Transfers went to Twitter on Tuesday night to announce that Lawrence’s agent is in still Turkey trying to find a deal for the Jamaican superstar.
Lawrence is supposedly entering the final year of his contract with the team.
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Former Red Bulls DP Gonzalo Veron has returned to Argentina and officially signed with Club Atletico Independiente. He was unveiled by the team earlier this week.
The Red Bulls spent an estimated $2.2 million to bring him in from San Lorenzo in 2015 under then-sporting director Ali Curtis, and paid him . But he never managed to break through to the starting roster in his first two seasons. It wasn’t until 2017 that he finally seemed to find a role as a super-sub, scoring several game-changing goals as a substitute including a game-winner in the 90th minute of a 3-2 win over New England.
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Atlanta United announced on Tuesday night that they had signed former Red Bulls wingback/defender Sal Zizzo. Acquired in a trade with NYC FC for a loan of Ryan Meara in 2015, Zizzo made 15 starts and 28 total appearances that year as the Red Bulls went on to win the Supporters’ Shield. In three years with the team, Zizzo made 93 total appearances and 64 starts, as well as six assists.
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[Author’s Note: Lastly, today is my birthday! Thank you very much for reading and continuing to enjoy my material!]