League Source Confirms Henry Has Signed With Red Bull New York

Frank Dell’Apa at the Boston Globe has received confirmation from a “league source” the Thierry Henry has signed with Red Bull New York:

A league source confirmed last night that Thierry Henry will join the New York Red Bulls, likely after the World Cup. Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz signed Henry to a contract that will include playing and promotional duties.

Henry, 35, who concludes the season with Barcelona this weekend and then play for France in the World Cup, June 11-July 11 in South Africa.

Red Bull has an advertising budget of more than $500 million annually and Mateschitz invested $300 million into Red Bull Arena, which opened this season in Harrison, N.J.

Of note, Dell’Apa’s piece pre-dates the Sports Illustrated piece that started the latest round of speculation on Monday.

After confirming the date with Dell’Apa and the editorial staff at the Boston Globe, Dell’Apa’s story seems to have gotten swept under the Sports Illustrated piece based on timing alone. Dell’Apa’s work went to print on Sunday, and by the time most of the soccer-loving world were back in the news cycle, Sports Illustrated’s piece was garnering the headlines.

This is not to say Ben Lyttleton at Sports Illustrated does not deserve credit. He provided important information - confirming the Barcelona-angle of the story. The story as presented here, however, should have given Frank Dell’Apa (and possibly others) the credit that was due.