Gabriel Cichero will be having a ball in New York (Getty Images)
By BRIAN LEWIS
The Red Bulls have finalized a deal for Gabriel Cichero, according to the defender’s Venezuelan team.
The Post had confirmed on Tuesday that the loan deal on the table was for six months with a team option for next year as well, and that Juan Carlos Osorio was confident they’d reach an agreement. Well, today Deportivo Italia officially announced on their website that Osorio got his man. We’re trying to track down whether they have an option to buy Cichero after that.
Osorio had tried to buy Cichero in the last window, but Deportivo Italia didn’t want to sell, and he helped them to a fourth-place finish in the Clausura, allowing a league-low 14 goals. Osorio came back with a loan offer, and told the Post he was confident he would get that completed before Tuesday’s transfer window opened; now Italia chaiman Eligio Restifo has confirmed it as a done deal.
The 24-year-old defender _ who has been training with Italia in meantime to stay in shape _ is a teammate of new Red Bull addition Jorge Rojas on the Venezuelan National Team, and fits the left-footed mold Osorio has been looking for. Cichero has said that the faith that Osorio has put in him and the chance to live in the U.S. are keys to his decision.
He has also played professionally in Uruguay for Montevideo Wanderers, in Bulgaria for Vihren Sandanski and in Italy’s Serie A with Lecce. Cichero was in preseason training camp with the Red Bulls last year. Here’s a video clip to give you an idea of his game, which is fairly athletic and pretty good going forward _ not a shock since he came up as a center forward all the way through Venezuela’s U-20 team.