New York Cosmos chasing Georgios Samaras, according to reports

Gianluca Di Marzio is reporting that the New York Cosmos have set their sights on signing Greek center forward Georgios Samaras, looking to add more goals to their attack. Di Marzio suggests that the boys in green are offering the attacker an annual salary of about $2 million, or roughly double that of Serie A side Sampdoria, who are also rumored to have strong interest.

Samaras would certainly be an interesting acquisition, as at 30 years of age, he'd be younger than the other two marquee signings that the Cosmos have made in the past several seasons. His skillset is also one that typically ages very well (see Drogba, Didier), so it's not unreasonable to expect that the former Celtic man could have 5-6 excellent seasons left if he came to the US in the near future.

Gio Savarese currently has one open international spot to work with, and has been linked to several midfielders who would require that slot since Marcos Senna announced that this season will be his last. Samaras would likely require Savarese to use that slot immediately, as he's currently not under contract with any club, and is likely looking to settle his future as soon as possible.

The Greek forward is a very different player than either Raul or Lucky Mkosana, and would be a fairly interesting upgrade to backup forward Mads Stokkelien.