The Red Bulls expect to bring in anywhere from 12 to 14 trialists into camp as soon as tomorrow to compete with their supplemental draft picks. Coach Hans Backe said Tom Williams and Victor Palsson would fall in that larger group, and neither is the established midfielder they hope to sign by the end of this week.
That throws 20-year-old Hibernian regular Palsson and the 31-year-old Williams _ who has played for 13 English teams in ten years, and is married to model Nicola McLean _ in the mix with a host of hopefuls that includes their first-ever academy signee Giorgi Chigradze, ex-Revolution player Joseph Niouky, Jhonny Arteaga and Qwame Holder.
The Red Bulls are familiar with the latter FC New York pair, who faced them in last year’s U.S. Open Cup.
The 23-year-old Holder was born in Trinidad but raised in Brooklyn and graduated from New Rochelle High. He eschewed college and joined the Red Bulls academy in 2009, playing with their National Premier Soccer League team in 2010.
“From our reserves, I think he played well,’’ Backe said of Holder. “He played well as a holding midfielder, and he’s one of these guys that I definitely will have a fresh eye on, because I think he could be a guy we look to this week.
“He could be a guy for our depth, because he’s a tough guy, he’s been involved in some high-level games. These kind of guys, I wouldn’t be afraid to put them on the pitch in an MLS game.’’
The 25-year-old Arteaga is another player with local roots, despite being born in Colombia. He grew up in Stamford (Conn.) and played at Dominican College before turning pro. He joined Polish side ŁKS Łomża, scoring eight goals in 14 games in 2010, before returning home to sign with ill-fated FC New York.
He was one of the few bright spots for the now-defunct USL Pro team, playing in 21 league games and scoring a league-high 13 goals _ 16 in all competitions. He also made a cameo on a trial with the Red Bull reserves, coming on as a second-half sub against Philadelphia and scoring a second-half brace in a 2-1 win.
“He’s a typical scorer, always in the right position, tap-ins, finish mostly very well,’’ said Backe. “He had a phenomenal start with us when he came on, scored twice that game. It’s typical of that kind of guy; I call him the needle the kind of guy that pops up mostly in the right place in the box.’’
Backe has talked about his desire to have four reliable forwards, and he has that at the moment in Thierry Henry, Luke Rodgers, Juan Agudelo and the newly-acquired Kenny Cooper, who arrived today from his honeymoon.
But if Rodgers’ past legal woes cause his P-1 visa to not be renewed, or the Red Bulls opt to sell Agudelo before the transfer window closes at the end of the month, Backe said he thought Arteaga could be groomed to be that fourth striker.
“Yeah I think a guy like Arteaga, of course he’s a young guy, but he could be one of four. I think so,’’ said Backe. “I liked him in the reserves from what I saw. (He had) a good attitude, too.’’