Could Jason Kreis be the man to lead New York City FC in the club's MLS debut?
That's their hope, according to a report posted on SI.com on Thursday afternoon.
Kreis, who has been at the helm of Real Salt Lake since 2007 is in the last year of his contract with the club and has yet to put pen to paper on a renewal.
According to the report, NYCFC extended an offer to Kreis earlier this week and received permission from RSL to speak to the coach, who flew to England earlier this month to speak to NYCFC and Manchester City leadership.
RSL, however, reportedly remain intent on keeping Kreis, who has overseen an extended run of success that includes an MLS Cup 2009 win and a run to the final of the 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League.
"We are aware of inquiries made as to the future availability of head coach Jason Kreis," RSL spokesman Trey Fitz-Gerald told SI.com and confirmed to MLSsoccer.com. "He is obviously an attractive candidate. Our ongoing conversations with him regarding his long-term future continue to be positive and productive."
New York City FC, for their part, would not confirm if an offer had been made for Kreis. "No decision has been made about the head coach position," a team spokesperson told SI.com and confirmed to MLSsoccer.com.
NYCFC is a joint venture between Manchester CIty FC and Major League Baseball's New York Yankees, were announced earlier this year as the league's 20th team, and will begin play in 2015. They have started putting together a front office staff, making former US international Claudio Reyna their director of football and hiring former Rutgers athletics director Tim Pernetti as their chief business officer earlier this month.
Reyna did say in his introductory press conference in May that no coaching decision would be made in 2013, but Kreis' availability may push that timetable forward.
