When Juan Agudelo was traded to the New England Revolution on May 7th, the 20 year old didn’t know what to expect. He had little knowledge of the team’s tactics and knew few of the players personally. Agudelo adjusted quickly both on- and off-the-field to help the Revs make the playoffs for the first time since 2009. Although Agudelo will now depart for Stoke City of the English Premier League, he will always have fond memories of his time with New England.
“It was extremely fun to be with all these young and motivated players,” Agudelo told media. “I wouldn’t change anything because I had so much fun here.”
The fun that Agudelo had was widely documented on social media. Videos of singing celebrations, wacky costumes and hilarious pranks are all evidence of how close Agudelo became with many of the Revolution players. Agudelo believes that becoming a soccer family was a large part of this team’s success.
“When I was in New York or in Chivas, we didn’t have too much off the field stuff,” Agudelo explained. “This team was really fun because we did everything as a team and I think that’s how we got so far.”
Agudelo is now scheduled to leave the Revs and head to Stoke City, currently ranked 17th. Joining a struggling team midseason will be difficult but Agudelo believes it will serve as an important step in his development.
“It’s tough but I’m up for the task,” Agudelo commented. “I’m going to try my best. I feel like I need to stay in Europe as long as I can in order to be successful. “
If all goes to plan, Agudelo will be eligible to play for Stoke on January 1st. Before anything becomes official, however, the young attacker must obtain a work permit, something that he believes should be easy considering his caps with the national team and his age. In the meantime, Agudelo will take a much needed break.
“Right now Mark Hughes, the coach of Stoke, just said that it’s really important for me to have a break and not kind of play two seasons,” Agudelo enlightened. “He doesn’t want me to burn out towards the beginning of next summer or the end of their season, kind of something that happened to Geoff Cameron.”
While Agudelo is ready for his European adventure, he wouldn’t rule out a return to MLS, especially in light of Clint Dempsey’s recent deal.
“I’d love to be Clint Dempsey right now,” Agudelo joked.
(image courtesy of Kari Heistad)
