Spanish La Liga side Real Valladolid, La Liga 2 club Deportivo La Coruña and several teams in the Turkish top flight are interested in signing New England Revolution attacker Juan Agudelo, according to sources.
Agudelo, 25, is out of contract at the end of this year. He’s eligible to sign a pre-contract now that would allow him to join a foreign club for free in January 2019. He could also play out the season with the Revs and either sign abroad for free this winter or negotiate a new deal to remain with New England.
The sources said that there’s also a chance Agudelo could be bought by a foreign team in the current transfer window, though they said that’s unlikely due to his impending status as a free agent.
Agudelo has two goals and three assists in 18 league appearances for New England this year, only eight of which have been starts. After playing mostly as a center forward for the bulk of his career, he’s primarily been used in wide positions this season under first-year Revs head coach Brad Friedel. While his minutes have been somewhat limited in 2018, Agudelo has started New England’s last four matches and recorded a goal and an assist in a 90-minute performance in their 3-3 draw at Orlando on Saturday.
Agudelo signed a pre-contract to leave New England once before. The American international inked a deal in August 2013 with then-English Premier League club Stoke City. He played out the 2013 season with the Revs before officially completing the deal in January 2014. He never did feature for Stoke, however, as he was twice denied a work permit, prompting the club to release him in May 2014 following the completion of a loan to Dutch club FC Utrecht. He re-signed with New England the following January.
Now in his eighth season in MLS, Agudelo has 42 goals and 19 assists in 175 career regular season appearances and 106 starts. He has three goals in 28 career appearances for the US men’s national team, last appearing for the country in their scoreless draw against Bosnia & Herzegovina in January.
Real Valladolid were promoted to La Liga after winning the promotion playoffs in La Liga 2 last season. They swapped places with Deportivo La Coruña, who finished 18th in La Liga and were relegated to the second division after a four-season run in the top-flight.
New England are currently in sixth in the East, two points ahead of the Philadelphia Union for the conference’s final playoff spot. The Revs will host the Union on Saturday.
