MLS Rumors: Juan Agudelo Drawing Strong Interest From Standard Liege
New England Revolution star forward, Juan Agudelo, is reportedly drawing some strong interest from Standard Liege in Belgium.
According to MLS Transfers, “there’s big interest in Juan Agudelo from Standard Liege.” The forward has been with the New England Revolution since re-joining in 2015. He has hoped to return to Europe, more specifically England, but the Belgian club are the team sporting interest.
MLS Transfers also tweeted that it’s “unclear if bid is coming in winter.” The winter transfer window for the Belgium First Division A opens on January 1st and closes on February 1st. It will be interesting to see if a bid does come during the winter as Major League Soccer will have their offseason.
After starting his professional career with the New York Red Bulls in 2010, Agudelo joined Chivas USA in 2012. He was then traded to the New England Revolution in 2013 before he got his wish of playing in Europe for Stoke City. Even though he joined the English club, he never appeared in a match for them and was loaned to FC Utrecht.
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There was controversy surrounding the move to Stoke as Juan was denied a work permit and that is why he never made a cap with the club. After re-applying for the work permit, Agudelo was denied once again and the two sides mutually terminated his contract. Once he was a free agent, the forward re-joined the Revolution.
The United States’ international has appeared in 21 games for the USMNT and has scored three goals. He has recorded 20 goals and nine assists in 69 games over three total seasons for New England. His MLS career has taken off with the Revolution and at only 23-years of age, Agudelo could still develop into an even better player one day.
MLS Transfers added that “my problem with Juan Agudelo is that he’s had 10+ European teams fight over him but he wanted to be in England only. That’s frustrating.”
It is unclear if Juan would accept a move to Belgium in the winter but it seems like a possibility. Agudelo will have some decisions to make after the 2016 MLS season as he could have multiple clubs and options to choose from.
Standard Liege are one of the best clubs in Belgium and have won the league title 10 times throughout their history. They finished in seventh place last year but the team has the longest running spell in the top flight as they have been there since 1921. The club’s currently in seventh place this season.
If Standard Liege do in fact make a bid for Agudelo, it will be interesting to see if he will be granted a work permit. He should but that was a controversial development with Stoke City only a few years ago. The bigger question will be if the New England frontman will want to leave and if a bid will in face be made.