HANOVER, N.J. – Arguably the best player on the New York Red Bulls this season, Daniel Royer’s injury on Sunday was certainly a blow to the team but it may not be as bad as feared.
Royer exited early in Sunday’s 3-2 loss at New York City F.C., scary moments after he collapsed near the endline and writhed in agony for several moments, clutching his leg.
The screams were clearly audible on the national television broadcast and fears were that Royer had a serious injury. Very little contact was made by the NYCFC player who was marking him on that play.
On Tuesday, the team dutifully announced that Royer had a hyperextension and some bone bruising in his right knee. He was listed in the release as “week-to-week.”
In his first full year in MLS, Royer has been sensational with 10 goals and two assists. He was named by as the league’s player of the month for July thanks to his recent form.
“It’s a hard one to really figure out. It’s obviously not great and he’s not out here yet. Still walking around with a limp but we avoided any major injuries like ligaments and whatnot,” Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch said on Wednesday. “I think the key is if he can progress quickly the next few days, then the prognosis becomes much quicker and better. Whereas if he’s still limping around a week from now, then we’ll know it will take awhile.”
“I will say the last two days, he’s had progress from day-to-day, it’s a good sign,” he continued. “We’re all hopeful with how important he’s been this year, that he can recover quick.”
Recently signed Norwegian youth international Muhamed Keita remains hurt and his anticipated debut won’t be coming this Saturday at Red Bull Arena when his team hosts Orlando City.
Marsch said that Keita’s injury “is a little bit of a groin” but nothing too serious.
“Keita is hopeful to be training next week,” Marsch said.
NOTEBOOK
-Wednesday is the end of the summer transfer window when teams can sign players under contract or requiring a transfer fee from overseas leagues. Already, there has been a flurry of moves around the league and the Red Bulls might get in on the action as they’ve hinted that they are actively seeking to make roster improvements.
“Lots of conversations flying around. It’s been an interesting 48 hours. Not sure what we can say right now other than we have the ability to make some moves, we like to keep the core, all the players we have here,” Marsch said. “We’re only looking to add, some of our other resources. There’s a lot of talks going on in the league, we have talks going on outside the league. We’ll see.”
Marsch went on to note that the team can still make moves after today within the league via trades or they can sign players out of contract.
-Midfielder Dilly Duka continues his trial, the recently-released Columbus Crew midfielder doing well.
The Crew is still on the books for his contract for the rest of the year, meaning that they would pay the remainder of any potential deal with the Red Bulls (were the club to sign him).
“Dilly Duka is here, which has been great,” Marsch said. “I think he’s done really well.”
