Whatever holiday Red Bulls fans celebrate – Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa – many will be celebrating an early gift if Rafa Marquez is indeed on his way out of New York, as recent reports claim.
Marquez is one of their three Designated Players, and unquestionably one of MLS’ biggest starts. But the Mexican captain has become an unpopular pariah among many Red Bull fans for his bloated salary, frequent injuries and ill-timed suspensions. Now multiple reports claim he’s on the verge of a move to Leon.
Criterio Hidalgo was the first to break the news, saying “According to various reports, negotiations between Leon and Rafael Marquez are very advanced.’’ Then ESPN Deportes followed up with “The negotiations are going well. The only thing left are the details.’’
Emails to Marquez agent Jorge Mendes – the head of GestiFute – have not been answered, while the Red Bulls have not commented But that silence is both telling and deafening, with the Red Bulls seemingly moving on from Marquez the way the Knicks had to with Eddy Curry and the Mets had to with Jason Bay.
When Marquez first arrived from Barcelona in the summer of 2010, the Post reported that he had inked a three-year contract with a club option for the fourth season. As his disappointing tenure unfolded in New York, it appeared less and less likely that the Red Bulls would pick up that option.
Now, if the reports are accurate, Red Bull Global head Gerard Houllier – and thus, by proxy, newly-installed Red Bull New York sporting director Andy Roxburgh and GM Jerome de Bontin – have decided they aren’t going to.
Marquez has played well at times with the Red Bulls; but those times have been too few and far between. He’s appeared in just 36 of a possible 73 games, hardly enough to warrant his $4.6 million salary, the second-highest in MLS.
De Bontin ran a financial services company, an asset management and advisory firm; clearly he was always going to be about return on investment, and Marquez hasn’t provided it.
Marquez has been linked with Atlas this offseason, but their financial state has made Club Leon a better fit. He’s reportedly expected to be with Club Leon today to seal the deal, with Club Leon President Jesus Martinez tweeting this: https://twitter.com/jmartinez_leon/status/278191273138081792
That roughly translates to “Today is an important day for fans of Leon.” There are likely a number of Red Bulls supporters that feel the same way, although for different reasons.
If Marquez moves on, it leaves an open DP spot that the Red Bulls could use on Juninho, or perhaps even Kaka if they can pry him from Real Madrid. Kaka has an apartment in New York, and his brother Digao plays for the Red Bulls, although the Galaxy have been overt in their chase for the Brazilian star.