Erik Soler's been wheeling and dealing. The day after he swaps Mehdi Ballouchy for an international spot and a draft pick and just a few days after he signs Tim Cahill and cuts Ryan Maduro, here comes some much needed defensive help.

The New York Post's Brian Lewis is reporting the Red Bulls have signed Babajide Ogunbiyi, a Nigerian-American defender from Viborg FF of the Danish First Division and who was drafted by the team back in 2009.

If the name sounds familiar, it's because we profiled him over the winter as a solution to Hans Backe's desire the team pick up a physical centerback. Back then, he was described, by Viborg, as "big and very strong," "half American and half Nigerian muscle," and, as the headline indicates a "lighthouse from Philadelphia."

Not much is known on the deal yet, as the news has only broken on Twitter, but we assume Ogunbiyi is still a gigantic man and still plays defense.

Speculate away in the comments on what this means for Wilman Conde, Markus Holgersson, Stephen Keel and Tyler Ruthven (as well as the team itself).

UPDATE 7/31, 12:18: Here's the press release from the team.

Announced Saturday, but datelined today, the Red Bulls announced they were waiving midfielder Ryan Maduro. The Providence College grad featured in the Red Bulls U.S. Open Cup victory over the Charleston Battery, but never got any league minutes.

In more interesting news, Kristian Dyer of Big Apple Soccer and Metro fame, is reporting Erik Soler has pulled the trigger on a deal that sends Mehdi Ballouchy to the San Jose Earthquakes. There's been no news on how the Red Bulls are being compensated for the Moroccan international.

This year, unlike years past, Ballouchy is actually playing well, and his absence Saturday night left a hole none of the other bench players (all five of them) could fill. Fresh legs could have provided a spark and got the Red Bulls back into the game, but Ballouchy, whose visa issues keep him out of games in Canada and international friendlies, wasn't around.

UPDATE 1 p.m.: The release says the Bulls got a 2013 international spot and a 2013 conditional draft pick in exchange for Ballouchy.

Oh, yeah, in case you haven't heard, next week is the Barclays New York Cup, because if we can't travel across the Atlantic to win some rather meaningless silverware, why not win some rather meaningless silverware in our own backyard!

Anyway, Tottenham Hotspur is the other team in all this, and they've released their roster for the game. I'm no Spurs fan, but it seems they're coming with a pretty good mix of players.

From the official site...

Goalkeepers: Jordan Archer, Carlo Cudicini, Brad Friedel, Heurelho Gomes

Defenders: Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Sebastien Bassong, Michael Dawson, William Gallas, Younes Kaboul, Kyle Naughton, Adam Smith, Jan Vertonghen, Kyle Walker

Midfielders: Gareth Bale, David Bentley, Tom Carroll, Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas, Aaron Lennon, Jake Livermore, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Andros Townsend, Rafael van der Vaart

Forward: Harry Kane

Also, a cool thing, sort of in keeping with Chris Heck's promise that the friendly was a gift for the fans, the Red Bulls are going to sport numbers with the names of season ticket holders on them. Plus, two fans, picked by contest, will get to do the radio broadcast and supporters group members and season ticket holders will "be taking part in pre and post match ceremonies, including the medal presentation following the match."

Continue reading this post »

So the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players' union mandates the league name 32 players to the MLS all-star team each year.

In order to fulfill that requirement, the league released a list of "inactive" all-stars and noted snub Kenny Cooper made the list. Just like that, viola, Cooper is an all-star. Not that he shouldn't have been in the first place -- how do you keep the league's second highest scorer off the team? -- but his inclusion is largely a technicality.

Thankfully, the Red Bulls get all the advantages of having a number of guys named to the all-start team with (nearly) none of the drawbacks. Heath Pearce isn't playing, so he won't risk re-injuring himself, and now Cooper is in because of the union contract. The only Red Bull playing tonight in PPL Park is Thierry Henry and he shouldn't play the whole game.

Now where's the respect for Dax McCarty?

So after this whole Tim Cahill thing broke out, it was all over the MLS (and Premier League) blogosphere(s), but there was a noted exception. While Everton, the club releasing Cahill on a "nominal fee" had commented, the Red Bulls hadn't.

That is, until they released this rather terse statement on the issue:

"We are aware of Everton's statement regarding midfielder Tim Cahill and our club. However, we have no comment at this time regarding him or any other non-New York player."

It certainly seems like the Red Bulls had little to do with Everton's statement... and "non-New York player?" Sounds pretty strong.

But wait, this, from Kristian Dyer, at roughly the same time the team released this statement...

Source familiar with situation confirms RBNY has reached contract framework with Cahill. #RBNY

— Kristian Dyer (@KristianRDyer) July 23, 2025

So there you go. Try as he might, Erik Soler can't distance himself from this one.

So this one came out of nowhere.

According to Everton's site (which won't load for me, the Mirror has a story here), the team is allowing the Australian midfielder to leave on a free transfer for a "nominal fee" -- rumored to a sticking point in the Red Bulls bringing Aston Villa's Stephen Ireland into the fold -- as a thank you for his eight years of service.

The 32-year-old will join the Red Bulls pending agreement on personal terms and a physical.

It's no secret Erik Soler and company have been looking for a third designated player, and one that could be the offensive spark in a midfield that's looked sluggish this season, for some time now. If the team can meet Cahill's salary demands, Soler's finally got one.

Cahill scored just two league goals last year and added two assists, but he's a season removed from netting nine goals and three assists. How well he performs in MLS remains to be seen.

For those of you who don't support the Blues, here's some highlight footage:

Thoughts?

Two Kenny Cooper goals saw the Red Bulls past the Philadelphia Union and to the top of the East Saturday.

Even better, the Red Bulls ended their three-games-in-a-week pre-All-Star break gauntlet 2-0-1, netting them seven points and vaulting them to second in the Supporters Shield race (if only for a few hours), five points behind the San Jose Earthquakes with a game in hand.