The Red Bulls completed one of the moves sporting director Andy Roxburgh had alluded to, trading for New England’s Saer Sene.
The Red Bulls sent the Revolution allocation cash and little-used striker Andre Akpan, who The Post reported last week was on the trading block.
“Saer is a player that many teams in the league will always be intrigued by. He has a great stature and build and he likes to get forward,’’ coach Mike Petke said. “It’s a good situation for Andre to get up there and get some games, and a good option for us to add attacking power for the final weeks of the season.’’
The 27-year-old Sene – who can play as a striker but has also been deployed out wide – took a hefty pay cut to join the Revolution. He is making a guaranteed $163,682.54, with a base salary of $152,145.00, according to the player’s union.
“Saer, who can play wide or up front, will add a different dimension and another option to our attack,” Roxburgh said in a release. “We’re excited to bring him aboard and at the same time, we wish Andre all the best with his new club.”
The Paris-born Sene hasn’t been in his best form, but his best form is fairly high, if the Red Bulls and friend Thierry Henry can somehow coax that back out of him.
“I’m not up in New England, but you hear stories he didn’t get on with the coach, with Jay [Heaps],’’ Petke said. “I don’t know for a fact, but the thing I look at from the outside of New England I thought Sene was a better option for them, so there must’ve been something going on behind the scenes. But all the reports I get from people I know is he’s a great kid, so there must’ve been something going on.’’
The 6-foot-3, 185-pound attacker is a strider and dangerous in the box. He arrived in 2012 with a great debut season, notching 11 goals and three assists – the first double-digit campaign by a Revolution player since 2007 – before suffering a season-ending torn right ACL on Aug. 29. When he went down, he was fourth in MLS in goals and finished the year sixth in the league Castrol Index.
He came back with five goals and five assists in just 1,218 minutes last year. He missed the early part of the year recovering from his knee reconstruction and the last two games (and playoffs) with a dislocated ankle and broken fibula.
He hasn’t recaptured that form this year, with just one goal in 10 games (five starts).
“He’s somebody we’re definitely looking at not simply as a forward but in a couple of positions: outside, up top,’’ Petke said. “He’s very offensive-minded, likes to get forward. We’re not going to pigeonhole him in one single solitary position. We’ll see where he is [physically]. As of now, we’re looking for him to add a lot of depth.’’
Akpan, a Harvard product, gets to return to the Boston area.