Red Bulls Continue To Flirt With Henry

New York Red Bulls sporting director Erik Soler has made it known that his team will not be using their second Designated Player slot until after the World Cup comes to an end. His declaration has added further fuel to rumors that the club will attempt to land French international Thierry Henry at some point during the upcoming MLS season instead of waiting until his contract with Barcelona expires in the summer of 2011.

“The people we are talking to now are not the Designated Player,” said Soler of the club’s potential acquisitions in the short-term. “Hopefully we’ll have a Designated Player when the World Cup is over.

“I would take any player from Barcelona, but they’re all under contract,” Soler responded when a reporter mentioned Henry by name. “I’ll take them from Real Madrid as well, if I could. I’ll take all of them! Just bring me the names and tell me when they’re out of contract and we’ll try to do it.”

Meanwhile, Red Bulls team captain and former Aston Villa star Juan Pablo Angel continues to talk up the potential move, sounding as if it’s only a matter of time before the former Arsenal superstar follows in the footsteps of David Beckham in leaving La Liga for the more modest American league.

“I think it’ll be great,” said Angel of Henry’s impending arrival in MLS. “Any good player that wants to come here will be welcome. If that player is the one we already know about, even better. If he eventually gets to come, it will be phenomenal for this football club, but also phenomenal for this league.”