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Thierry Henry signs for NY Red Bull


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Red Bull New York announced today that it has signed star French forward Thierry Henry to a multi-year contract as its second Designated Player. Henry, a World Cup, European Championship and UEFA Champions League winner, will be available for selection for New York pending receipt of his International Transfer Certificate and after the July 15 international transfer window. His debut for the Red Bulls is expected to be on July 22 against English Premiership club, Tottenham Hotspur, in the Barclays New York Challenge at Red Bull Arena.

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MLS simply took on his salary for next year as the transfer fee, that is about 10 million euros. They don't pay Barcelona a thing, they guarantee him his next year's contract at the Barça rate and probably a few more years at a lower salary. Barça bought him for 24 million euros originally, the step down now in his value is about right. I think he lacks pace and precision and unless they play to his fortés he will not make an important contribution to the team. MLS is not a league for coasters, you could be off peak form but you still have to work your butt off. Doubt he will, he does not have that anymore. An overpriced signing as I see it.

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MLS will only pay $167,500 of his salary for this season, with NYRB picking up the rest.

In future years, the league pays $335,000 of his salary, with NYRB picking up the rest. I'm sure Red Bull will be using Henry as a huge marketing tool not only for their soccer team, but also the Red Bull brand itself, so in that regard they may see value in this deal.

All of that said, we need to wait and see what sort of impact he has on and off the field, not to mention the official salary number, before judging him to be over or underpriced.

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MLS will only pay $167,500 of his salary for this season, with NYRB picking up the rest.

In future years, the league pays $335,000 of his salary, with NYRB picking up the rest. I'm sure Red Bull will be using Henry as a huge marketing tool not only for their soccer team, but also the Red Bull brand itself, so in that regard they may see value in this deal.

All of that said, we need to wait and see what sort of impact he has on and off the field, not to mention the official salary number, before judging him to be over or underpriced.

Hi Rudi, so how does that work? Effectively he was under contract, but they broke it under two conditions. First, that whoever wanted him had to take up the year left, the 10 million euros. As if a transfer fee, but not paid, just taken over from FCB. Second, that there would be future salary considerations. So how much is Red Bull paying, virtually the entire salary year left? And after that what is the salary rumoured to be? Thanks for the info.

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I'll go on record here saying that I think he is going to rip it up in MLS. Is he a bit older? Yes. Was he a regular starter at his last club? No. But it was the Barcelona starting 11 that he was trying to crack. Not exactly a walk in the park. I think he will bang in a ton of goals for NYRB, unless he gets no service whatsoever.

A 32 yr old past his peak Henry will still be the best striker in the league, bar none.

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Will he conflict with Juan Pablo Angel in terms of position? (Striking forward)

Think they'll easily find a way to make it work. Angel playing the Latin American number 10 role with Henry as a striker could be even more nightmarish for MLS defenders than the Beckham and Donovan combination, in my opinion. Hopefully TFC will eventually attract a player of the quality of Henry and Beckham. Happened in the past from the 60s to the 80s with players like Sir Stanley Matthews (Toronto City), Eusebio (Toronto Metros-Croatia) and Roberto Bettega (Toronto Blizzard). Zico even almost played for the Blizzard in the original CSL after the NASL folded.

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Hi Rudi, so how does that work? Effectively he was under contract, but they broke it under two conditions. First, that whoever wanted him had to take up the year left, the 10 million euros. As if a transfer fee, but not paid, just taken over from FCB. Second, that there would be future salary considerations. So how much is Red Bull paying, virtually the entire salary year left? And after that what is the salary rumoured to be? Thanks for the info.

MLS is single entity for the express purpose of keeping costs down, and the biggest costs to any team (aside from building a stadium) will be salaries. As such, all salaries are paid for by the league, with the players actually under contract to MLS rather than the individual clubs.

The DP rule is a bit of a departure from that. For a designated player, MLS pays $335,000 (or $167,500 for a half season) while the individual team pays for the remainder. so if Henry was to recive 10 million euros for this upcoming season at Barca and NYRB/MLS agreed to take that on, then for the duration of 2010 MLS will pay $167,500 and NYRB will pay 5 million euros (half a year's worth of salary, since MLS contracts generally end on Decmber 31) minus the $167,500 that MLS chipped in.

Henry will count $167,500 against the salary cap for the duration of 2010, then for each of the remaining four years he will count as $335,000 against the cap.

DP's are still technically under contract with the league and not the individual club, but for the purposes of transfer fees (if a DP transfers out of the league while under contract) the team would get much more of a cut than they would if a regular player transferred out. Seattle may be the first to transfer a DP out as word has it that Freddie Ljungberg is unhappy and wants to be moved (although there is a rumour that he'll simply be traded to New York).

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MLS is single entity for the express purpose of keeping costs down, and the biggest costs to any team (aside from building a stadium) will be salaries. As such, all salaries are paid for by the league, with the players actually under contract to MLS rather than the individual clubs.

The DP rule is a bit of a departure from that. For a designated player, MLS pays $335,000 (or $167,500 for a half season) while the individual team pays for the remainder. so if Henry was to recive 10 million euros for this upcoming season at Barca and NYRB/MLS agreed to take that on, then for the duration of 2010 MLS will pay $167,500 and NYRB will pay 5 million euros (half a year's worth of salary, since MLS contracts generally end on Decmber 31) minus the $167,500 that MLS chipped in.

Henry will count $167,500 against the salary cap for the duration of 2010, then for each of the remaining four years he will count as $335,000 against the cap.

DP's are still technically under contract with the league and not the individual club, but for the purposes of transfer fees (if a DP transfers out of the league while under contract) the team would get much more of a cut than they would if a regular player transferred out. Seattle may be the first to transfer a DP out as word has it that Freddie Ljungberg is unhappy and wants to be moved (although there is a rumour that he'll simply be traded to New York).

Really appreciate the explanation Rudi, you've probably had to do that a hundred times. But it still is a bit hard to get your head around.

Another possibility, as I see and as mentioned, is that Henry is signed to a promotional contract with Red Bull, and that represents part of how the former contract salary structure is compensated. That is one way, and the other is to offer a few years at a lower rate, so that the salary he will not get from the last year of his contract is spread out over a few seasons, giving him continuity until retirement.

There is another way Henry and his agent would look at playing in New York: big market, better chances at other sponsorship deals. Same way basketball players think, but not so much in football. But sure, having Henry in NYC means signing him to a sponsorship deal you have him available for promotional acts in the top stage for them in the US. For example, with Gillette (actually Boston based if I remember correctly), what you pay him goes further because he is a more visible sports figure out of NY than any other US city.

Red Bull, apart from being a powerful brand, also has another great advantage: it rarely enters into conflict with other brands, it is not a brand that makes it hard for you take on other sponsorship deals.

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So does no one care that he is a cheat, or that he won't try hard at all, instead coasting lazily along as if north american soccer can't challenge him at half speed?

No, why would we, unless your NYRB fan. Though I don't think Henry is a cheater everyone would cheat if they can get away with it. Yes, his Hand of God turned to the Hand of Darwin, but he will definitely bring some attention to the MLS and will undoubtly be one of the best players in the league whether he decides to coast or bring his A game.

I don't think less of him because of the hand ball in any way, You think any other player in the world would of said they touched it with there hand, anyone who says they would is a bold face liar, it was a goal that sealed the chance for a trip to the world cup.

No question he will have a reel of highlight goals in the MLS. Whether NYRB wins a cup or anything is another story.

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So does no one care that he is a cheat, or that he won't try hard at all, instead coasting lazily along as if north american soccer can't challenge him at half speed?

Hey Foreverthursday. Welcome to the board and always feel free to post whatever your feeling as long as its related to the topic. I personally am going to hold judgement until he laces up the boots and plays a few games before I get on him about packing it in. Realistically he hasn't played a single minute to even suggest he is just packing it in.

Also, although I always root against the french, I really have lost my desire to care that Ireland didn't make the world cup. I'm sure if Rep of I was my team I would still be insensed, however we have had some calls go against Canada to a lesser degree and I feel just as raged about them now as I did then. I guess it comes down to where your passions lie. I hope Henry brings it because his presence should help boost the league.

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