US national team hopeful and former Major League Soccer striker Juan Agudelo has remerged from European soccer limbo with USL PRO side Orlando City, but team officials say he won’t stay for good.
The Orlando Sentinel reported on Tuesday that Agudelo, 21, is training with the club this week to stay fit before his next professional move. Agudelo’s friend and fellow former MLSer Brek Shea also trained with the club in late May and June with no indication that he would stay on for Orlando’s MLS debut next year.
Agudelo moved from MLS to Stoke City in England on a free transfer but was twice denied a work permit in England, and the two sides mutually agreed to terminate his contract in May.
He’s since been linked to a number of clubs in the Dutch Eredivisie after scoring three goals in 14 appearances while on loan with FC Utrecht last season.
He’s also been linked to German side Hannover, but as an unattached free agent his next stop is still unclear.
"It won't be here," Orlando general manager Paul McDonough told the Sentinel. "We're helping him out, like we did with Brek. He is training and he will make a move at some point, but with MLS rules it won't be here."
Agudelo spent four seasons in MLS, scoring 17 goals in 78 league appearances. He broke through as a Homegrown player with the New York Red Bulls and also played for Chivas USA and the New England Revolution before he left for Europe at the end of 2013.
He’s scored two goals in 18 appearances with the US national team but was not called into Jurgen Klinsmann’s pre-World Cup camp in May.
"I enjoy having him here," Orlando head coach Adrian Heath told the Sentinel. "This is a guy who is highly thought of. For the rest of the group, we can't get enough quality players in to train. Having seen good players has been valuable for a lot of our younger players.
"He's come in and, like Brek, gone on with it. Been part of the group ... and it's been good to have him in."
