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Report: Stoke City eyeing Agudelo

JuanAgudelo (ISIPhotos)

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By JUSTIN FERGUSON

With Brek Shea, Geoff Cameron and Maurice Edu already on the roster, Stoke City is reportedly looking to bring another American to the Britannia Stadium.

Reports out of England indicate new Stoke City manager Mark Hughes is interested in a transfer for striker Juan Agudelo. The 20-year old, who has not seen action since June 15 due to injury, is currently with the New England Revolution.

According to these reports, Hughes has had his eye on the young Agudelo since his time in charge at Manchester City three years ago. With the Potters missing out on a loan move for Benfica striker Nelson Oliveira, Hughes has targeted the Colombian-born, U.S. Men’s National Team pool member.

Stoke City have recently ended their tour of the United States, losing 2-0 to Cameron’s former team before wins over FC Dallas and the Philadelphia Union. As SBI first reported on Twitter on Wednesday night after the MLS All-Star Game, the Potters are also interested in another MLS player, Los Angeles Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez.

Agudelo is in the final year of his contract with MLS and all signs are pointing to a departure to Europe, with the Revs not expected to make the kind of offer necessary to make Agudelo seriously consider staying.

Agudelo was the second homegrown player in New York Red Bulls history, making his debut in 2010. After being traded to Chivas USA for Heath Pearce in 2011, Agudelo was acquired by New England for allocation money earlier this season. He has three goals in five league appearances for the Revolution this season.

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What do you think of this news? See Agudelo fitting in with the other Americans at Stoke City? Excited to see another American potentially moving to the English Premier League?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I didn’t think the potential move to Celtic was good and I feel the same about the EPL. He’s not mature enough yet to handle it. He still seems to have casual training issues. He is very good technically but when I watch him play I get the sense from him that he can turn it off and on. Part of that is his style, but I never see him stay consistently involved at a high level…probably due to fitness. I think he is a huge talent, a total ankle breaker, but he needs to get serious about what it takes mentally to succeed at the next level. Honestly, I think he’s in the same place Jozy was about 3 years ago. He should take a slower approach and follow the same path as Jozy. Go to Holland, play on a weekly basis in wide open games and build confidence.

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  2. Also: Juan Agudelo seems to be trying his best to follow Jozy Altidore’s career path as close as he can. A move to England at 20? Hmmm

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  3. I hope not, just sit on the bench and waste away, they need to have minutes and if they aren’t going to play in the games, they should play somewhere else.

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  4. The Revs were a better team with him on the field. Chivas was a better team with him on the field.

    Stoke need him because they are one of the less creative teams in the EPL. His skill and movement would do them well.

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  5. At 6 foot 1, Agudelo is not tall enough to play for Stoke. Omar Gonzalez, however, is the perfect height to slot in as striker there.

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  6. Not a bad move. Stoke has a number of strikers already but it’s not like guys like Walters, Jerome, Crouch, Jones etc. are world beaters. Juan could compete I think.

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    • Thanks for the info. I wish Ives and his staff would include this sort of information in their story so we can debate whether it’s a good move or not from a PT perspective, e.g. competition at the position.

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  7. Agudelo would be a buy low investment for the future. He won’t see any time with Stoke this year if signed, will get loaned out and should he continue to develop be brought the squad and hopefully sold for a profit 4 years later. He and Shea both need to look into a move to Holland, even on a loan spell.

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  8. If a team wanted to be smart they would buy Besler. I would say he’s the best American playing in MLS (outside of Donovan who will be available on a free transfer in January).

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  9. Question for MLS Roster Rules Experts: If New England/MLS makes him an offer of some kind at season’s end, and he rejects it…would NE retain Agudelo’s rights upon a hypothetical return to MLS (see: Clarence Goodson), or would he go back into the allocation process (see: Carlos Bocanegra). Guessing the answer is “Whatever MLS feels like doing at that particular time,” but I wasn’t sure if there is a real template for this.

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    • I think it depends on the period of time between his leaving and his return to MLS.
      I believe the rights retention holds for a period of 4 or 5 yrs. after which he’d go into the allocation process.

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  10. This would be great for everyone. He’ll get bought by Stoke and get a better paycheck, and most likely loaned out to a Championship side like Forest or Leeds or whatever that will have 46 games on their schedule. Lots of playing time in a high quality league, and the opportunity to get a spot on Stoke’s first team (or someplace else if they sell him for a profit) if he performs well. A win for everyone

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  11. Not a great idea. Juan needs to take a lesson from the book of Jozy and head to a league where he can refine his game at an elevated level of competition. Cough, Holland, cough. Then, he can think about an EPL move, to somewhere other than Stoke.

    Stoke wouldn’t be an awful place for Omar… but it would suck that he would be competing with Cameron for a starting spot. You’d think, though, there would be more suitors than just Stoke for these MLSers.

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  12. Please stay in New England, Juan. We are extremely capable of making you an offer you can’t refuse. Kraft got macaroni and cheese money, homie.

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    • Not to be nit picky, but Bob Kraft isn’t associated with Kraft Mac and Cheese. He made his fortune by manufacturing corrugated cardboard and other paper/packaging materials. Not sexy, but it pays the bills.

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  13. Incredible that Agudelo is still only 20. Remember when some folks were ready to declare Altidore a washout at that age?

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      • Adu comp is pretty off base if that’s what you are saying. Juan is much more physically gifted than Freddie and has a natural position while Freddie does not. Clubs will be much more forgiving of Juan’s lack of tactical awareness because he has size, speed and skills and is a natural striker. Freddie is small and slow and has to play a classic attacking number 10 role which most teams don’t use anymore. Most clubs use box to box midfielders now.

      • Big in small pond is what caused this. Freddy can play but he needs to get his game together in terms of responsibility. TEAM!

    • Yeah, Omar makes no sense IMO as they are already loaded with oversized CBs and Tony Pulis, who brought giant soccer players to an art form is no longer in charge.

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      • It absolutely make sense for Stoke. International player and former defender of the year on a free transfer and inexpensive contract.
        It doesn’t really make sense for Gonzalez who would likely be sitting on the bench for them. He needs to be very careful about his next move if he wants to stay competing for a starting spot in the World Cup.

      • Cheap quality international CB makes sense for Stoke if they can pull it off. Not the best career move for Gonzo.

      • Duh, cheap quality international players make sense for any team if they’re cheap enough, but Omar isn’t going there bc he’s blocked and Pulis isn’t the manager anymore so it makes no sense. It makes just as much sense for Stoke as it does for a club in Japan, ie none. He’s not going to Japan and he’s not going to Stoke.

      • Tony Pulis is the only manager looking for big center backs in England? please…

      • I think it makes sense if Omar has solidified his spot on the national team after qualification. My guess is that Jurgen will want his players injury free and with something left in the tank for the WC and would probably breathe a sigh of relief if his key players were getting some rest in the Spring. Whether or not Omar will be viewed as a key player or somebody with something left to prove will be the issue.

    • Cheap, quality players. Our value is not inherently spiked by being British, and we are probably underpaid relative to market and cheap as transfers also because of the young market and salary cap.

      Caveat, as Americans ask for more money the transfer value gap will close.

      I also think people overrate the back end of the EPL in terms of quality, I think it’s almost lateral for good MLS players on good MLS teams. You do get a much better paycheck which is why people are doing it.

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      • US players are undervalued bc we don’t have Euro pa$$ports and bc we haven’t ever produced a superstar. Once we crank out a legitimate superstar as many African and South American countries have done, then prices will rise, IMO.

  14. While not a big Stoke fan, I actually like the idea of multiple players from the USNT Pool at the same club side. Possibly having a CB, CM, LM, and Forward all training together day in day out would help their chemistry and understanding of how each other move & play. I might have to root for Stoke if this were to happen.

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  15. Work permit may be an issue…how many yanks can squeek through on the ‘exceptional talent’ rule. If that doesnt work out maybe somewhere more developmental, like netherlands or France or Belgium could be good. Dont know if he’s consistent enough for the EPL.

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    • At least Jozy at that age got PT, but he also got the permit because he was the USMNT starting striker; there’s no way Aguduelo could get one. He’d be better off on a team where he could play.

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      • He has the benefit of being called in many times prior to injury which would give him a decent chance on appeal. Not that it makes it a great move for him.

    • Agreed he’d be better off in Netherlands or Belgium, but if the offers aren’t there then Stoke isn’t a bad place to land in the EPL. He may not play much, but Stoke seems dedicated to developing American players.

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      • I doubt that Stoke cares about developing American players. They do care about finding and developing players for Stoke.

      • People said the same thing about Fulham and though I was a fan before and after that craze I have watched that trend pass.

        I’m not as much a fan of bulk, since Stoke shipped Edu right back out on loan, as I am on quality. And on that note I don’t know if Stoke is ideal. I think the Netherlands is a good fit for Americans and that pendulum is swinging back, ie, people are signing there again.

      • The move is fine if Agudelo understands he won’t be playing at Stoke initially. I don’t think he is ready for the Premier League. If he can go there and secure a loan move where he can get consistent PT then it could work out ok.

      • I think there have been a few Agudelo moves now premised on his workrate picking up at the next destination. Maybe a European move is the motivation he wants/needs, or maybe it would be setting him up for a fall.

        I think he needs to go somewhere and just play. Stoke, mediocre as they are, may still be an EJ overreach.

      • I agree he needs work and is not at a Premier League level at the moment. That doesn’t mean a team taking a shot at him is a bad move though if its the right situation. He will need a loan where he can get time on the field to grow as a professional. Even if he doesn’t cut it at Stoke, he can still catch on somewhere else if he does well in his loan spells.

      • There’s obviously a reason why Cameron and Shea (and potentially Agudelo) have landed there. Maybe it’s a coincidence they’re all American, or maybe the ownership realizes American players are undervalued and great deal. Obviously the goal is to build Stoke, regardless of the players’ nationality, but it seems the club rates Americans higher than other EPL clubs. That’s what I meant.

    • He has a better chance than most. He has almost 20 senior team caps at the ripe old age of 20, and has seen consistent time on the field at just about every youth level. He deserves to win an appeal a helluva lot more than Ream, Rogers, Findley etc. Plus, his hair has all kinds of flair, that helps

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    • I agree, he’s not been regularly called in and I think it would be hard to frame his absences as injury related, at least for several months.

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    • France or the Netherlands YES…..Belgium? Not really, thanks but no thanks, the Belgian league isn’t that big of an upgrade from MLS, not overall. Great Technical improvement but the rest is really a tiny bit more or about the same….Rather see him in France or Holland as THOSE leagues are much more competitive in the overall level, and also offer more CL/Europa slots but hey if he can land the work permit I can see him fighting for PT at Stoke, and that is not a bad thing….he is still in his early 20s after all

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    • I always thought about this… If a mid table team just went out and bought all the starters from the USMNT wouldnt that be the single most unified club in the world? I mean you could probably get all the players for relatively cheap and I can only imagine how many fans the club would gain.

      When I eventually buy Fulham this is happening

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      • I’ll buy in with you at Fulham. Plus the continuity you’d get for national team games considering they’re training together every days.

        That’s why teams from small countries can sometimes do well on the international stage, they’re always playing together whether for club or country.

      • Bayern Munich tried that and it was an epic fail. The single biggest problem is that the US starting 11 isn’t constant. Not just b/c of injury but b/c of form.

      • as much as I like the idea, that Fulham team was desperately fighting off relegation….so maybe not the best idea, especially with a mix off USMNT fringe players (Shea-b team sub), Agudelo (barely on radar right now), Edu (limbo) and Cameron (should be starter, but coach views as 2nd best at CM, RB and CB)

      • What would the clubs do on internationals weeks when they still have fixtures to address? You’re a kid aren’t you? I like the thoughts but football is a business.

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