February 11, 2010
'NO TRUTH TO REPORT'
Red Bulls respond to Marca's Raul story

Asked if the Red Bulls were interested in Raul Monday, sporting director and GM Erik Soler responded, "I will take all of them. Just bring me the names and tell when they're out of contract and we'll try to do it." Photo courtesy of the Red Bulls

A Red Bulls spokesman said Thursday that there was "no truth" to the report in the Spanish daily newspaper Marca that Real Madrid superstar Raul will join the MLS team.

"There's no truth to this report," the spokesman said. "He is a player under contract with another club."

The 32-year-old Raul's contract runs through June, 2011.

Marca reported earlier on Thursday that the financial offer would be comparable to what Raul receives at the Spanish First Division power and that he has an offer to play in Major League Soccer.

The Red Bulls, the newspaper said, was close to signing the Real captain.

A report on SkySports.com said that the Red Bulls want to talk to the Spanish scoring machine.

Gines Carvajal, Raul's agent, has confirmed that several teams have shown an interest Raul. He also said that Raul could remain at Real.

"Some clubs have asked about Raul, but that is a question that depends exclusively on the player and he is very happy in Madrid," he said.

An MLS source said he was only familiar with the Marca report. "Anything is possible," he said.

Raul has spent his entire 17-year career at Real. He holds the club's all-time goalscoring record and is the leading scorer in the UEFA Champions League and for the Spanish National Team (44 goals in 102 appearances).

During an interview with sportswriter Monday, Red Bulls sporting director and general manager Erik Soler was asked if there was any recent interest in Barcelona FC forward Thierry Henry, 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."