HANOVER, N.J. – Breathe easy, New York Red Bulls fans. Gonzalo Veron is not looking for a move away from the team.

His trip to his homeland earlier this week was an opportunity to see a specialist who has already worked with another Argentine playing in MLS and is considered an expert in his field.

The Red Bulls’ midfielder has been out for over a month with a hamstring injury and flew to Argentina this week to receive treatment for the nagging issue. The news was received with head scratches from Red Bulls fans, especially since the tri-state area has no shortage of top-rated doctors.

The reason for the trip to South America has nothing to do with Veron looking to make a move back to the Argentinian league or being homesick as some had speculated. He is seeing a world-renowned doctor who specializes in the treatment of these injuries.

It is the same doctor that flew to Montreal last year to care for Ignacio Piatti of the Montreal Impact.

Because of issues with visas, the doctor couldn’t fly up to New York to treat Veron. Rather, the decision was made for the Red Bulls’ attacker to fly to Argentina to get looked at.

“It’s been weird because the MRI showed it is not a major issue,” Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch said. “It is the knee that he had an ACL, it’s just not recovering as quick as we thought it would.”

Veron should be back with the Red Bulls after this Sunday’s match at Orlando City.

“There’s nothing new, no new revelation in terms of where he’s at,” Marsch said.

“It’s just taking way more time than we thought it would. He’ll get back on Monday and hopefully be able to speed up his process here. It’s been a little bit frustrating for everybody, but we have to be patient.”

Notes

Right back Connor Lade will be a game-time decision for the Red Bulls following a ribs injury last weekend. Lade has started the last two matches for the Red Bulls at right back.

Winger Mike Grella , who had offseason hernia surgery, has apparently made progress with a knee injury that has hampered him in recent weeks. A return could be soon.

“All indications right now are that Mike’s moving in the right direction. He’s still probably about two weeks before he’s getting on the field,” Marsch said. “We feel positive about how he’s feeling right now and we have our fingers crossed that he’ll be ready to go.”