With reports that all three of the Red Bulls’ Designated Players – captain Thierry Henry, pariah Rafa Marquez and newcomer Tim Cahill – are considering going abroad for loan spells this offseason, new sporting director Andy Roxburgh said it’s not something he’s generally in favor of, but would take each case individually.
“In general terms, I wouldn’t say it would be something we would (favor),’’ Roxburgh said. “I think the length of the season we have here, when they get the break over the Christmas, New Year’s period, they need to regenerate themselves. I’d say in general we wouldn’t be too positive about letting them go.’’
Henry went on loan last winter for his former club Arsenal, and came back in fantastic shape; Olivier Jiroue told a radio station Henry might do the same again. Atlas’ front office has made it clear they still want Marquez, and Cahill told the Liverpool Echo that he wants to play for Everton in the offseason.
But at the moment, Roxburgh claims no foreign clubs have officially requested to take any Red Bulls players on loans.
“Right now we don’t have any requests for that. No one has requested for anyone to go on loan,’’ said Roxburgh. “If such a request came in, then we would have review each one. It could be that something that can be helpful. The player has been injured and they need to come back in a competitive arena. It’s possible.
“But it depends on the individual, it depends on the circumstances. You cannot say never on that one. But it’s unlikely. It’s unlikely at the moment that that would happen.’’
Roxburgh was noncommittal about the future of Marquez, who has become unpopular with Red Bulls fans due to his high salary, frequent injuries and ill-timed suspensions/.
“He’s got another year to run in his contract. He’s been very unfortunate in a lot of injuries, which hasn’t helped. I saw him play in Barcelona, he’s very talented, but he’s had a lot of injuries and some unfortunate incidents happen here,’’ said Roxburgh.
“Gerrard (Houllier, head of Red Bull Global Soccer) and I met them a week last Friday, we met them all two to one. We sat with every one of the players and spoke with them. We’re having this discussion with everybody.’’