While we all worry and wonder over Thierry Henry’s possible appearance Saturday at Gillette Stadium outside Boston, there is one other high-profile striker whose possible appearance deserves our concern.
Juan Agudelo has arrived into his new club and could be on the field Saturday as the Red Bulls make the short trip north to meet Jay Heaps’ Revolution.
Goal.com’s Kyle McCarthy said via Twitter that New England’s coaching staff would decide by Saturday morning whether the young striker would be available for Saturday’s home match against the Red Bulls.
Whether it’s Saturday evening at Gillette Stadium or soon after, we can soon get a better look at whether Agudelo’s third MLS stop can shake something loose from a career that was once a fast-risfer, but that has apparently hit a sticking point.
While restrictive MLS policy on releasing trade-attached allocation money always makes assessing these swaps rather tricky, this looks like a decent deal for the Revs.
Agudelo was out of favor at Chivas USA (and pretty much with the national team, too, which is surely attached to his lack of playing time with the club.)
Either way, it’s a better situation for the young forward. (We tend to forget, he’s just 20 years old.) Agudelo just didn’t have the support at Chivas USA. With playmakers behind him at Gillette Stadium (Lee Nguyen and Juan Toja), he’ll have a little more to work with. Those runs and his ability to combine will have better chance of being rewarded.
Between Saer Sene, Jerry Bengston and Agudelo, there will be enough playing time to go around. The Revs’ current pair of strikers are both talented guys, but not overwhelmingly so, meaning Agudelo will have a reasonable chance to elbow his way into the order.
At the very least, it’s a move with little downside. There’s a reasonable enough chance that Agudelo moves into Europe sooner rather than later. But even then, the Revs haven’t lost much during what essentially becomes a lease, with New England presumably retaining his MLS rights.