The New York Red Bulls are roster compliant and did not waive any players on Tuesday, but that doesn't mean the club is done looking for ways to upgrade its lineup.
One player who appears to be on the verge of joining the Red Bulls is Carlos Johnson, a 24-year-old Costa Rican right back who is currently playing for Byrne FK in Norway.
The move on Monday to send veteran Chris Leitch to San Jose for an allocation and an international slot could be viewed as a precursor to the imminent signing of Johnson, who has seven caps for the Costa Rican national team.
"We are very far along in our discussions with Carlos Johnson," Red Bulls technical director Jeff Agoos said. "We thought with the strong possibility with Carlos coming in and with Carlos Mendes and Jeremy Hall being able to play at that position, we felt that Chris would be better served playing in San Jose."
There are at least six players the Red Bulls are targeting at the moment, including three who played in a 1-1 draw with Argentinos Juniors Tuesday morning in Buenos Aires.
During the majority of the club's preseason camp in Argentina, the Red Bulls have taken a look at three trialists -- Albert Celades, Jaime Duran and Aklie Edwards.
Celades is a 33-year-old midfielder who has played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid. Most recently he played for Real Zaragoza and is currently unattached.
"He can play in a number of positions in the midfield, but I think he's better suited centrally than out wide," Agoos said. "He's a very talented player and with the pedigree he has, coming from Real Madrid and Barcelona, you know there's something behind it. He hasn't played in a number of months so he's getting back into fitness."
And while Agoos said Celades has expressed an interest in playing in the United States and living in the New York area, the two sides have just started negotiations.
"We're in preliminary discussions in terms of where each party stands. We're not very far along, to be quite honest," Agoos said. "Right now we're just have two interested parties in each other and we're trying to figure out if there's some common ground."
Duran, a 27-year-old Mexican defender, left camp because he received an offer from Mexican Primera Division squad Necaxa.
"We have heard in the past couple of days that may not have materialized so we will be in discussions with him about any possibilities with the club, but at this point he is not with the team," Agoos said.
Edwards, a 23-year-old defender, is a Trinidadian international who recently played for Defence Force in Trinidad. He can play either centrally or as a left back.
On Tuesday, the club took a look at a pair of young Boca Juniors trialists -- Nicolas Villafane and Gabriel Quirulef.
"I think if we had an expanded roster, it would be more of a likelihood of one or both being able to make this roster," Agoos said. "Nicolas did very well today, Gabriel did well also and they're players we're going to keep through the rest of this camp and make an assessment at the end of this camp on what the direction is with both of them."
Agoos also dismissed published reports out of El Salvador that claim the Red Bulls have agreed to terms with Alfredo Pacheco, a defender who played for CD F.A.S. in that country.
"I've heard there were reports that said there was an agreement of terms, but that's not an accurate statement," Agoos said. "To be quite honest it would be difficult for me to comment about a player who is currently with another club right now."
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