Juan Agudelo in "search" of a Club

I'd really like to see him stay at a club for a couple years and truly succeed before moving. But clearly that isn't on his agenda.

 

Ream and others have been nowhere near the base criteria and were still granted work permits no problem. When one takes into account Agudelo's age and reputation within US soccer I doubt despite not meeting the by the book criteria that he would be denied a work permit.

 

http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Stok...delo-pursuit/story-19604293-detail/story.html
STOKE City are confident that a face-to-face meeting with manager Mark Hughes will persuade Juan Agudelo to sign for the club.
The 20-year-old New England Revolution striker spoke at length with Hughes in Philadelphia this week when they were introduced during the final leg of Stoke's American tour.

 

3-4 million and Agudelo is gone. Would rather have him join another club. Maybe Cardiff or Southampton. Don't want the case of he and Shea competing for minutes.

 

Why would they spend 3-4 million when he'll be available on a free transfer on January 1st? If they are trying to sign him now, I bet it is to sign a pre-contract. Isn't he's currently injured? I don't know why anyone would be in a big rush for him to come right now anyway. Let him mend and work his way back into fitness while playing for the Revs and join his new club in January.

 

Revolution will probably want to sell him immediately since he's on a freebie soon enough. Pre-contract... it's possible

 

Well, the Revolution are in the playoff picture, so they might want to keep him. But yeah, I could see them selling him. I just don't think they would get anywhere close to $3 million when he'd be available for free in a few months. They just don't have leverage. Guys that commanded fees that big (i.e. Shea, Cameron, Ream) each had at least a couple years left on their contracts.

 

Mark Hughes

 

When Juan moved to Chivas, there was mention that Chivas owed RBNY a significant slice of any future transfer fee. Given how little the Revs paid to bring him in earlier in the year, I can't see them netting very much, if any. IMO, the Revs rented him, with a lottery ticket's chance that if Juan got injured and found no takers this winter, he might fall back in their laps for 2014. If there's any chance he can get healthy this season, I think the Revs will want to keep him.

 

Does anyone think Agudelo on Stoke's roster this year is a good idea? Does anyone think he'll dress on the weekend, let alone get playing time? Let's hope that if he were to sign for Stoke he gets loaned out immediately.

I'd much rather see him go to Holland, Belgium, etc. These leagues have solid midfielders to provide service, looser defenses, and managers that appear to be more patient with younger players. In addition, I think clubs in these leagues are really in the business of buying on the cheap, educating and showcasing, and then selling. Jozy is a perfect example. The AZ coach admitted that Jozy was a tactical novice when he arrived, but they didn't just dump on him. They educated him and gave him significant playing time. Today, he's a much, much better player, both technically and tactically, than he was 2 years ago.

 

I think his decision not to extend his MLS contract at any point indicates that he would like to find a club to stay and develop with, just not one in MLS. The work permit issue may be tricky.

 

It's been obvious for a while he has wanted to test the market. His relatively good form at NE has helped his standing. It'll be interesting to see where he lands.

 

Dalby was trying to exploit a loophole in British law regarding college graduates who earn a minimum salary. At the time this first came up, in dollars, the amount was (IIRC) around $45,000.

He was NOT trying to get a WP purely as a soccer player.

 

Brek only has a few more caps than Juan and is 3 years older. Granted many have been more recent, but I don't see how Brek (and Geoff for that matter) would be granted a WP and Juan wouldn't.

 

Cross-posting this from the Revs forum:

Going to Stoke City under Mark Hughes is a terrible move for a fragile 20-year-old with 14 career MLS goals, who missed 14 games last year and is on pace to miss roughly the same number this year. It's a move that would end up with him injured or benched or both.

Jozy has been a huge success, but he didn't make a real leap until he took a step back from the EPL/La Liga and worked on his game in an environment that gave him ample opportunity to develop. Juan wouldn't get that at Stoke (where even SPL/USMNT vet Mo Edu couldn't break the 18) and especially not under Hughes. There's also the long history of guys like Ream, Onyewu, Bornstein and Adu who jumped to "big clubs" and as a result have barely played in the past 3-4 years. Shea, who is a more polished talent with physical attributes and skills more suited to the EPL, might be joining that group.

If he's going to leave MLS, he needs to go to Denmark or Holland or Belgium. Even Celtic would have been better since at least Lennon is there.

 

I wonder if it's possible to use the argument that he was on our 2011 Gold Cup squad (and got a bunch of caps in that timeframe)........................but a series of injuries have prevented him from getting callups of late. I wonder if that has any traction whatsoever. It's not like the kid has 2 caps. He's 20 years old and has 17. He just missed out on being eligible for the recently completed U20 World Cup team.

Most of the players for whom I've said " he has no chance of getting a work permit" ended up getting it in the long run. So clearly I don't know what I'm talking about.........................

 

http://espnfc.com/news/story?id=1511888&cc=5901

 

Given recent history I think he'd get one, but if I were Stoke I'd have backup loan plans...assuming they would view him as a long-term signing

 

If he wants to get back in the USMNT, this is what he has to do. Juergen has clearly stated that he wants players to challenge themselves at a high level. Forget about Altidore's experience at Hull, just go to Stoke and train hard. This is a different club and a different manager. The funny thing about Agudelo, is that he has a knack for showing up in big spots (vs. Argentina, Russia, South Africa). It wouldn't surprise me if he made the most of this possible chance.

 

If he wants to make it into the WC squad, he needs to make this move and have a decent season. If he moves and doesn't have an impact, then he follows the footsteps of Altidore and moves to a smaller club where he can develop and challenge for 2018. Its what I would do if I wanted a chance at Brazil.

 

He's an interesting prospect on a free. Not sure why anyone would buy him.

 

Going to Stoke just isn't a good move. He'd have Kenwyne Jones, Peter Crouch, Cameron Jerome and Jon Walters all ahead of him in the pecking order. He'd be better off going to Belgium or Holland.

 

Perhaps to ensure that you get him.

If a player is a free agent, would they sign at Stoke?

Get him now before he has a multitude of options..................................

The transfer fee can't be too high.

 

Just because he might sign with Stoke doesn't mean he can't go out on loan for a year or two. Pretty common to see Prem teams loan out their young players if they aren't likely to get minutes.

 

They definitely need to buy him now, it would be harder to sign him when he is a free agent. Maybe $250K or $500k sounds reasonable, you can't pay more than that, but they could actually sign a pre-contract already for January and he goes for free.