February 8, 2010 TWO NO'S AND WHO KNOWS? Soler squashes 2 rumors; team notes
Erik Soler said the Red Bulls will not be going after Ora Nikolov or Jonathan Fana Farias. Photo courtesy of the Red Bulls
By Michael Lewis
BigAppleSoccer.com Editor
MONTCLAIR, N.J. -- Red Bulls sporting director and general manager Erik Soler quashed two rumors about two players coming to the MLS club on Monday.
Scratch goalkeeper Ora Nikolov and attacking player Jonathan Fana Farias from the list.
There have been reports out of Germany that Nikolov, who plays for Eintracht Frankfurt, was heading for the Red Bulls.
Soler said Nikolov was on FC Dallas' discovery player list.
"So he's not coming to New York," he said after the team's first training session on the artificial turf of the football field at Montclair State University, the Red Bulls' first practice since their two-week stint in La Manga, Spain.
There also were reports that Farias, an attacking player from the Dominican Republic who helped W Connection eliminated the Red Bulls from the CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round last summer, was linked to the Red Bulls and Chivas USA.
"Not accurate," Soler said of the Red Bulls situation
Like it or not, the name of French striker Thierry Henry keeps surfacing as a possible Red Bulls player in the future.
Asked if there was any recent interested in the Barcelona FC forward, Soler replied, "I would take any player from Barcelona, but they're all under contract. I'll take them from Real Madrid as well, if I could."
A writer asked if he would be interested in Real striker Raul.
"I will take all of them," Soler said, eliciting laughter from a group of writers. "Just bring me the names and tell when they're out of contract and we'll try to do it."
In other team news and updates:
* Red Bulls midfielder Dane Richards did not train with the team. He is in Argentina with the Jamaica National Team for an international friendly on Wednesday.
* The club's No. 1 pick and second overall in the MLS SuperDraft, Tony Tchani, will join the team on Tuesday.
