So Metro might have their World Cup player after all... Or will they? The Saga of Abbe Ibrahim has entered another chapter. The status of the young Togolese striker, who showed so much raw promise in his year with Metro, is as cloudy as ever.

Last year, Ibrahim scored two goals and added three assists in 16 matches, six of them starts. His blazing speed was coupled with poor decision-making; if not for that, his playing time and goals would have doubled, if not tripled. An injury curtailed Abbe's progress later in the year, but most Metro fans were excited about the prospect of seeing Ibrahim come back in 2006.

And then Ibrahim didn't show up because of reported visa problems. MetroFanatic found out that the MetroStars are in large part to blame for that, as they failed to provide the required information for Ibrahim to enter the country. Then he was called up to the Togo training camp, then visa problems again, then he was supposed to arrive any moment. And now that he is here, Mo Johnston can't get a hold of Abbe's agent, according to BigAppleSoccer. "It's a matter of tying his agent down. That's been the tough part. He's hiding from me," Johnson is quoted as saying.

As Johnston figures it, the agent would like Abbe to go to the World Cup and secure a big contract, something much larger than he could get in MLS. Of course, it's up to agent to look for the best possible deal for his client, and Mo is implying Ibrahim is not under contract with Metro, saying that "we need to get him secured and signed before he [goes to the World Cup]".

Of course, what makes the saga even more complex is that the Alexi Lalas-led regime told Ibrahim to find a new club over the winter. Then, as the search for a striker bore no fruits, RBNY decided to bring Abbe back in. So any hesitation on the part of Ibrahim's camp is easily understood. But even as Metro traded for Edson Buddle and Jean-Philippe Peguero, it looks like they want Abbe to be on this team.

But what does Abbe want?