Everything about #KakuWatch was unprecedented for the New York Red Bulls.
For the club’s sporting director Denis Hamlett, who had coaching gigs with the Chicago Fire, Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact before joining the Red Bulls in 2015, there’s never been a longer process than the one that resulted in the club signing Alejandro “Kaku” Romero Gamarra from Club Atlético Huracán in Argentina as its first Young Designated Player.
And the Red Bulls spent nearly three times the transfer fee — $6.25 million — than the previous club record when they acquired fellow Argentine Gonzalo Verón from San Lorenzo in 2015.
What made Kaku worth the wait?
“For us it’s about getting the right player that we think can come in here and help our team compete for championships. That’s the most important part of it,” Hamlett said. “For us, the main focus was on finding a player that fits our style that we think can be a difference maker and can come and help our team achieve the ultimate goal, which is to win championships.”
Under normal circumstances, the mechanism to sign players in Major League Soccer is complicated and time consuming. But when the targeted player’s team jumps the gun — as was the case when Huracán announced the signing just before Christmas — and said player’s former agent attempts to block the deal in an attempt to claim compensation — it becomes a nearly three-month telenovela.
“I think I’ve learned now, especially in South America and Argentina, it’s kind of tricky,” Hamlett said. “To get the complete lay of the land is never easy.”
According to Hamlett, the saga began in September when he met with Scott Pearson, a Red Bulls consultant and founder of Futbol Tours Argentina.
Hamlett laid out the Red Bulls’ philosophy and playing style, and tasked Pearson with identifying players in Argentina who fit that mold. Pearson did the initial scout and provided recommendations.
Hamlett and Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch started tracking those players and watching videos. Kaku jumped off the screen.
In early December, they took the next step and flew to Argentina to watch Kaku play in person, which confirmed the initial assessment that the now 23-year-old could be a difference-maker in New York.
After a dinner, where Hamlett got to know more about Kaku as a person, he knew the Red Bulls found their man.
“For a young man, he’s such a good person, he’s humble, he walks around always with a smile on his face,” Hamlett said. “He just enjoys his football. That’s something that is contagious when you meet him. We just felt this is the right guy, the guy we wanted to get so that’s why we stayed strong throughout the whole process.”
While it appeared from the outside that #KakuWatch was on again and off again, Hamlett said the constant line of communication with Huracán club president Alejandro Nadur made the unusually long process a bit more palpable.
“The key thing was our ability for all of us to stay strong and stay focused on what was the important thing which was having Kaku playing here in New York,” Hamlett said. “In the end, we finally got there. It took longer than we all wanted and anticipated, but in the end we’re all excited this day finally came.”
Now that #KakuWatch is finally over after 58 days— Hamlett joked he can finally sleep for the first time in months — the new questions are where Kaku will feature on the field and when.
Kaku’s versatility was attractive to Hamlett.
“From our scouting process, we’ve see him play multiple positions — from a No. 10, out left, out wide, sometimes he was a little bit deeper,” Halmett said. “It shows again his flexibility, he soccer awareness, his soccer IQ that he can play in any of those positions.”
As for when, Hamlett said that’s a bit more complicated.
Kaku only trained the last few days with his new club, which likely will exclude him from the CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16. The two-legged series with Olimpia begins Feb. 22 in Costa Rica.
“He’s missed a chunk of preseason,” Hamlett said. “He hasn’t played since December when the Argentinian league takes a break so he’s been out for a while. We just have to be smart and mindful to make sure that we bring him along the right way. It’s a long season so we want to make sure we integrate him from a physical standpoint, but also from a tactical standpoint so he has a clear understanding when he steps on the field, he has clarity.”
For the first time in 58 days, the Red Bulls also have clarity when it comes to Kaku.