French striker Peguy Luyindula has arrived in Arizona, and started his trial with the Red Bulls. The veteran forward – who is friends with captain Thierry Henry and former teammates with new signing Juninho – practiced today already, and is intent on trying to provide the team’s thin strikeforce with another viable threat.
The Red Bulls’ interest in the 33-year-old has been much-documented but not seen, as ethereal as Manti Te’o’s girlfriend. But after reports nearly two months ago linked Luyindula with a PSG exit and move to New York, now he’s finally in camp with the Red Bulls, not on a Designated Player star but having to prove his worth and earn his keep.
Luyindula came to a mutual agreement with PSG to terminate his $3 million contract weeks ago, a move clearly best for both parties. His last regular action as 2010-11, when he had eight goals and four assists in 41 games. But he became persona non grata after the Qatari takeover in 2011, getting just an 11-minute cameo off the bench in a 2-0 league cup win over Marseille this past October.
But Luyindula was once one of the top prospects in France, scoring 33 times in 91 appearances for Lyon, where he was teammates with Red Bull offseason signing Juninho. Luyindula made a big-ticket move to Marseille and eventually settled into PSG in 2007, the team he was scoring for when he broke into the French National Team.
It was while with Les Blues that he became friends with Henry, France’s star striker. And now, even after Luyindula’s lack of playing time the past two seasons at PSG, he still ranks second amongst active scorers in Ligue 1, and a worthwhile risk for the Red Bulls should he excel during his trial.
He can also play either wing, has decent speed, good movement off the ball and a high soccer IQ, fitting the mold of the team that new Red Bull coach Mike Petke is trying to build. And Petke will clearly need to bolster his strikeforce, after trading away MLS Golden Boot runnerup Kenny Cooper, and his team-high 18 goals.
With Cooper set to count $370,000 against this year’s salary cap, the Red Bulls shipped him to FC Dallas for a reported $200,000 allocation. Petke has said if they’d kept Cooper, not only would they have been unable to sign a third DP this summer, they couldn’t even have filled out their roster with trialists and draft picks.
A day after trading Cooper, the Red Bulls gave a raise and extension to Dax McCarty, arguably their most pleasant surprise and consistent player last year. They’ve also signed 20-year-old Spaniard Ruben Izquierdo (a Charlton reserve), traded for 24-year-old Portland midfielder Eric Alexander (capped by the US National Team) and now brought Luyindula in on trial.