RBNY Update: Arena Does About-Face

Bruce Arena apparently put the cart before the bull when he told reporters that the Red Bulls were ready to announce how they planned to use their second Designated Player slot. "I don't think it's going to happen. We've had some setbacks. We're not going to do anything that's a mistake so it's highly unlikely that we'll announce a signing next week. We're not ready yet," Arena announced today.

This was revealed on the same day that FIFA ratified the one-year ban of Agustin Delgado. The Ecuadorian was one of 11 players banned for between 2-12 months for taking part in a vicious melee at the end of local club LDU's 1-1 draw at home to Barcelona in December. So, by putting one and one together, it's safe to assume that Delgado was the target of the RBNY DP talk, and the deal only fell through because Delgado's suspension was upheld.

RBNY will likely keep the 2nd DP slot in their back-pocket, at least until the summer transfer window, when Zinedine Zidane will surely fly out of retirement and onto the football turf of Giants Stadium for the miniscule pricetag of $20 million/year.