By DAN KARELL
Desperately needing some speed up front and along the wings, the New York Red Bulls made an acquisition on Wednesday that should pay dividends the rest of the season
After spending the last month trialing with the club, the Red Bulls announced that they have signed Bradley Wright Phillips on a free transfer, pending the receipt of his International Transfer Certificate (ITC) and P-1 Visa.
Wright-Phillips comes to the Red Bulls after splitting time last season with Brentford in the Spring and Charlton Athletic last fall. The 28-year-old Englishman is a graduate of the Manchester City academy, where he came up with his older brother Shaun Wright-Phillips. His footballing family extends to his father, Ian Wright, considered one of the best strikers in Arsenal’s history.
In addition to playing for Man City from 2004-2006, Wright-Phillips has also spent time at Southampton and Plymouth Argyle, as well as recently playing with Charlton and Brentford.
What do you think of this news? Do you see Wright-Phillips improving the Red Bulls attack?
Share your thoughts below.
desperately needing speed up front… Thierry Henry
In fairness, I’ve seen far worse CVs enter MLS, this is a Championship/League 1 player with some Man City history. At his level some excel, some fail.
misleading headline! sad to open up an find out which wright-phillips
Well there is a photo…
true. i did think he looked like he’d shrunk a bit
Decent list of previous clubs.. We will see. NYRB should absolutely be a contender for the MLS CUP if they can get it together.
If i was a jersey fan i would be more excited about the youth victories – NYRB needs a homegrown star to lead them to the promise land.
best wright phillips ever
Did they sign him to lure his brother over? Didn’t work the 2 previous times…
I don’t think that’s what they are trying now or what they were trying then. The lesser brothers is just all they can get…
The problem is if you bring over some lesser light with intent to convince, the brother might actually care if he’s played and treated well. You almost have to play the bad brother more than you should as the sales pitch.
MLS…the league of the lesser brother.
And considering the “greater” brother is Shaun…
I don’t know about that, but the Red Bulls are certainly the team of the lesser brothers.
Ya its all NYRB; Rooney, Kaka, Wright-Phillips…
NYRB even has a history, Rooney brother, Kaka brother, now this. However if the concept is kissing up you might want to actually keep the lesser brother in good standing. Digao and John Rooney were both released, hardly the sales pitch for “come on over better brother, see how well we treated your family….”
Another marginally talented englishman with a history of legal problems. Should satisfy those still longing for the return of Luke Rodgers.
Agreed. No reason to strike up the band for this signing. The Red Bulls Academy teams have received a lot of positive press lately. There must be prospects coming up that could help the first team. I don’t see why they waste money and international slots on retreads like this.
MLS only allows clubs to sign two home grown prospects to contracts that are more than the minimum. So even if there are some better prospects in the academy its not so easy to add them to the club. Especially, since they can reject the minimum contract.
The homegrown signings are 17-19 years old on average. They’re not ready yet for extensive first team action. Thats why European teams have U21, U23 and reserve teams. Its rare for a player in Europe to be a first team starter at that age, for good reason.