Andrea Mancini spotted training...with the New York Cosmos?

It started with an observation by the folks at This is Cosmos Country:

This has to be wrong. D.C. United was training Thursday, at the training fields to be exact. But nope. Via Steve Hamlin from This is Cosmos Country, we’ve got photos to prove it:

Steve Hamlin/TICC

Steve Hamlin/TICC

So, compare these photos to a recent appearance by Mancini with teammate Luciano Acosta and Lucas Ontivero of the Montreal Impact (D.C.’s last opponent Sunday) at a weekend dinner:

And the son of current Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini seems to be doing things elsewhere, right?

This is Cosmos Country (h/t to Empire of Soccer) gets some more information from Cosmos coach Giovanni Savarese:

"We have a couple guys who are coming here, some trialists," Cosmos Head Coach Giovanni Savarese told TICC. "We have Mancini from DC United. We have a couple other guys, Kenny Cooper. So, we’ll watch some of the players and we’ll make some decisions and we are also interested in other guys overseas."

While a noncommittal answer, several things have to be considered: first and foremost is whether Mancini impresses, let alone even makes the team, or even Cosmos B, after only appearing in one game in 2016 thus far (a US Open Cup loss to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers) since signing for D.C. in March. D.C. would in all likelihood not seek a fee were Mancini to catch on with the Cosmos, and second, Mancini leaving the roster would open a roster spot and accompanying international roster spot back up on the roster, for Alhaji Kamara to take once he serves the minimum six games on the Disabled List for his hamstring problems (he has to sit out five more as of today).

So, in the meantime we dream, and hope of positive things, specifically for Mancini to earn that Cosmos contract.