Wednesday is a huge day for New York City FC, sources telling the Post that Andrea Pirlo will officially sign on the same day Frank Lampard finally arrives and joins David Villa at practice.
Meanwhile, across the river, the Red Bulls have gone into full cost-cutting mode that would make the Mets cringe, slashing 75 percent of their budget in just three years.
As the teams prepare for Sunday’s second New York Derby – the first at a nearly-sold out Yankee Stadium – it begs the question of whether any club outside Barcelona, Real Madrid or the Premier League giants have brought in three bigger names in a single year than NYCFC has?
And the flip side of the question is: If their starry-eyed ambition is a plus for MLS, is the Red Bulls’ sudden frugality a negative?
“Every club’s got to make the decision that’s going to allow them to have success on and off the field,’’ MLS commissioner Don Garber said Thursday. “The Red Bulls have gone through a process to get better. And they have.
“The team’s been playing well, they’re engaging and very much connected with their fan base. They’ve got a terrific coach we very much believe in, they’ve got new management we believe in.’’
The Red Bulls had a $15 million payroll in 2012, with the next closest MLS team at $10 million. But with Bradley Wright-Phillips now the only Designated Player on the roster, that figure is a quarter of what it was three years ago. Attempts to land Kaka, Xavi and most recently, James McClean, have failed.
Meanwhile, NYCFC will top a $20 million annual payroll. Villa and Lampard make $6 million annually, the latter pro-rated since he just got his p-1 visa and starts practice July 1. Pirlo should sign for a similar sum and will join NYCFC next month, contrary to reports from Italy claiming he’d wait until January.
Bring ’em all on, says Dax McCarty, captain of the Red Bulls.
“If he does come and sign here, it’ll be a lot of fun to play against world-class players,’’ McCarty said. “We’re the established team in New York, New Jersey. We have a lot of history. NYCFC came in, made a big splash. That’s good for our league. To have big-name players, they bring legitimacy for the league.’’
NYCFC’s move for Pirlo was first reported as a done deal last Friday in The Post. The Italian star — who has won five straight Scudettos and Serie A Player of the Year three of the last four years — attended Yankees Old-Timers’ Day on Saturday then spent the week in Miami on a family vacation.
“Clearly he’s a world-class player who played in the Champions League final. He’s a legend,’’ Garber said.
Garber added there’s no news on NYCFC’s stadium hunt, but reaffirmed the club is intent on building in the city.
“They’re very, very focused on building in the five boroughs, as well they should be,” Garber said. “They’re a New York City team, so their focus is 100 percent around building in the five boroughs.”