so, is he Red Bulls', or is there some other process for his placement on an MLS team were he to in fact sign with MLS?
Currently 19 years old, Bernardo is a resident of Madison, N.J., and was a member of the U-16 New York Red Bulls Academy prior to signing with Napoli. Do the RB have any rights to him, since he was a member of the Youth Academy ?
will it take an "allocation list" spot to get Bernardo? I may be completely off here, but there seem to be other options (a Lottery or the Home Grown Players possibilities -- see below) and it may depend if Bernardo is coming in as part of GenAdidas or if he's going to take a senior roster spot in MLS and/or if he was ever (and is still) on NYRB's Home Grown Player list. http://web.mlsnet.com/about/league.jsp?section=regulations&content=overview
From the Szetela thread, here's how allocations should stand: FC Dallas Colorado Rapids Kansas City Wizards Chivas USA New England Revolution Toronto FC Real Salt Lake Chicago Fire New York Red Bulls Columbus Crew Seattle Sounders FC (Kasey Keller) Houston Dynamo (Felix Garcia) San Jose Earthquakes (Bobby Convey) LA Galaxy (Gregg Berhalter) DC United (Danny Szetela) From the bio on Bernardo's website, he was playing with the Baby Nats before he was in NYAcademy so I would doubt they could claim him that way. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Since he's not in the full national team pool, I believe the lottery is how it will be decided. That's how Szetela originally and Rogers were sent to Columbus.
never doubt MLS and their ability to interpret their own rules as they see fit. yes, a lottery does seem most likely, imo. but I do think other options might be out there. as you say, it could be interesting, and it might lead to some more complaints about how the academy system isn't yet working (correctly or at all) if NY can't get a player from their academy previously (even if that player left to sign overseas) now that MLS has signed (or apparently will sign) that player and allow some team to acquire that player via whichever of the 13 mechanisms of player acquisition.
I'm just going to take a wild guess and assume that it was because he was never able to get any minutes with the first team. Being allergic to Italian food, not being able to find a grilfriend who shaves her legs, and having to drive a Fiat are also possibilites.
I'm not sure if a specific reason has been given, but maybe similar to the Robbie Rogers example, perhaps "couldn't break into the first team" may be a key factor for Bernardo opting for MLS as this point in his career. note: Sal Paradise just gave a better answer.
You know, there's a saying in Naples: When you think you're ****ing them, they're ****ing you. It's also possible he couldn't cope with the responsibility of being known as the next Maradona.
I would just about bet the farm there will be a lottery. Danny S. and Rogers being previous examples of this particular scenario. Which of course means he will end up with the Columbus Crew.
he did not get along with the coach. The coach was quickly fired at the end of the season. He trained with the first team and scored in almost every occasion he got with primavera and if i do remember right he scored the only goal against the first team in a friendly with the primavera ending 5-1 .
that is wrong...if he was a RB youth player they should get the option to sign him first, if not what's the point in developing your own regional players
For those wondering why New York can't just claim Bernardo. 1. Bernardo was a part of Red Bull's academy prior to MLS setting up their academy rules, hence Red Bull has no right to him. Red Bull took a risk by developing players with no ability to sign them. 2. Even if Red Bull could sign Bernardo directly, the day they let him go to Napoli they would have forfeited all rights to him.