Sekagya, Damari, Gulbrandsen, Rzatkowski

When Red Bull bought the MetroStars in 2006, dreams of salary cap manipulation arose. Could Red Bull sign a player to Salzburg (and, later, Leipzig), but loan him to New York for pennies for the dollar? No, said MLS, so the dream never materialized. Instead what we got was European leftovers... while sending two of our best, Tyler Adams and Jesse Marsch, the other way. So let's look at the history of such synergistic deals and the little they amounted to. (We're really writing this to answer the question, is Samuel Tetteh the worst synergistic transfer ever? Read on!)

It all started in 2006 with Markus Schopp. The one-time Austrian World Cup veteran was at the tail end at his career and no longer had a future at Salzburg. So he was sent to Metro on loan at the tail end of the season, and was absolutely putrid (there is a reason he appears on many of our "worst" lists). In 12 games, he tallied a single assist, and spent most of his playing time lying on the field, be it from constant diving or from his inability to keep up with opponents. (Breathe easy, Tetteh?!)

In 2008, the team spent preseason in Salzburg, and Juan Carlos Osorio started to salivate about left midfielder Ernst Oebster, who was demoted to Red Bull's junior squad. For whatever reason, the "sister club" did not want to let him go, so the saga continued for a whole year. It wasn't until mid-2009 when Oebster joined. By then, Osorio was on his last legs. Amazingly, Oebster scored on his debut in a CONCACAF Champions League game (Metro would blow it in the home leg). With his scholarly manager gone soon after, Oebster disappeared from the lineup. He went back to the Austrian lower divisions in the offseason. Five games, but a goal, so that's something.

And now for the strangest story of them all, that of the one and only Brian Nielsen. He was never a Salzburg player; rather, the Danish winger, then with Velje, signed a contract with... Red Bull the company, which proceeded to send him here as a grooming project. First Nielsen thought MLS was beneath him, but then he got to enjoy the New York lifestyle and didn't want to leave. He had plenty of time to party, since he only saw the field six times over two seasons (and three of those came in the Open Cup). Nielsen never made it to Salzburg, as injuries destroyed his once-promising career.

It wasn't until 2013 that Metro got an actual contributor from a "sister club"... but it wasn't a loan. Instead, Ibrahim Sekagya came from Salzburg after his contract expired. The stalwart defender actually scored the go-ahead goal in the goalmouth scramble in the Supporters Shield clincher... and then had a playoff problem that we would rather not relive. Still, a season and a half, 41 games, and a great job assisting with RBNY II in the USL.

Israeli Omer Damari holds the distinction of being the only player to play for Leipzig, Salzburg, and New York. The striker was signed with the Germans, who first loaned him out to Austria, and then to Metro in 2016. He did score a key goal in CONCACAF play... but his lasting memory was a playoff red card. Was sent back in the offseason, when he was promptly loaned to Israel and was later cut off from Red Bull for good. Six games, no starts, but he did score a goal...

We wanted to give Fredrik Gulbrandsen the benefit of the doubt, we really did. The young striker was a full Norwegian international, but could not break through at Salzburg. So to Metro he went on a loan, played 12 games, started four, and just could not score. So the loan was cut short, back to Salzburg he went, regained his scoring touch, helped the team to two straight league titles, signed in Turkey, won a title there, and scored in the Champions League. (UEFA, not CONCACAF!)

With apologies to Sekagya, here is your synergistic gem. Marc Rzatkowski came over from Salzburg in 2018, first on loan, but then on a permanent deal. The lithe midfielder did not appear often on the scoresheet, but had two huge games to his name. First, he scored on two long blasts in a comeback win over Kansas City. Then, with Adams out, played a magnificent defensive game to beat Atlanta 2:0 and push Metro to the Shield. He lasted three full seasons with Metro, scoring five goals in 85 games, more than anyone else on this list (and it's not even close).

Finally, Samuel Tetteh. Somehow, he never played a league match for Salzburg, only appearing for them in cup competitions. Instead, the Ghanaian international was loaned to league rivals LASK Linz, where he played for three seasons. With Metro this year, the man called "an exciting attacking player" by Kevin Thelwell and "a very interesting attacking player" by Chris Armas played ten games, looked out of shape, did not figure on the scoreboard, and placed a whole one out of eight shots on goal.

So is Tetteh the worst ever? It's close, but we gotta go with Nielsen.