The Red Bulls have refused to acknowledge Alessandro Del Piero _ or any other player _ as a candidate for their vacant third Designated Player slot this summer. But the Italian star himself is fixated on landing in New York or Los Angeles, according to Montreal Impact president Joey Saputo.

Saputo told his team’s official website that the 37-year-old Juventus star wanted to play for the Red Bulls or Los Angeles _ presumably the Galaxy, not Chivas USA _ and as a result Montreal had broken off its interest in the Italian.

“We have met with Del Piero’s group on two separate occasions (April 2011 in Montreal and June 2011 in Turin) to evaluate the potential for Alessandro to finish his career in North America and in Montreal,’’ Saputo told impactmontreal.com. “We were advised by his group in August 2011 that Alessandro would rather focus on New York or Los Angeles.

“There has been no discussion since then. There is no truth to the rumour that we want the player at all cost. Although we feel that Alessandro would have been a good addition to our club and the city, we respect his decision to look elsewhere in MLS. With the knowledge of soccer in the city, Montreal deserves a Designated Player but the conditions must be right.”