The New York Red Bulls’ high-profile acquisition of Jean-Phillipe Gbamin “is not happening,” after the oft-injured Ivorian midfielder failed his physical with the club, a source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed with amNewYork on Wednesday.
Tim Bogert of The Athletic and French outlet L’Equipe were the first to report that the deal was in danger of falling through after it first came out in late July that the two sides agreed to a deal.
The 28-year-old has made 16 career appearances for the Ivory Coast national team after coming up through the French youth system and ultimately switching his allegiances due to his parents’ nationalities and places of birth. But this is a career that is facing the very real threat of fizzling out much sooner than expected.
Gbamin spent the 2023-24 season with Dunkerque in the second tier of France (Ligue 2) after a four-year stint with Premier League side Everton quickly grew stale due to an onslaught of injury issues.
He made two appearances with the English club at the start of the 2019 season, but a thigh injury that ultimately required surgery held him out until May. Things got worse when he injured his Achilles tendon at training, which held him out until April 2021.
Just one week later, he sustained a knee injury that shelved him until October, but he would only make three more appearances for the club.
Everton loaned him to Russian side CSKA Moscow in February of 2022 for the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign. He was then loaned out to Turkey’s Trobzonspor for the 2022-23 season. Upon his return to Everton, his contract was terminated in September of 2023. He joined Dunkerque in November, scoring two goals in 21 matches.
Despite coming up empty for Gbamin, the Red Bulls appear in the market to bolster its central portions of the midfield during the summer transfer window after selling Frankie Amaya to Mexican side Toluca.
There is some consolation with the potential return of Peter Stroud on the horizon. The New York midfielder broke his ankle back in April, leaving Daniel Edelman and Ronald Donkor as the only central midfielders healthy.
