Will third club be the charm for Agudelo?

• by Ridge Mahoney  @ridgemax, May 8, 2013

[MLS SPOTLIGHT] Once regarded as the brightest prospect among young U.S. forwards, Juan Agudelo can't seem to find a suitable club option.

He’s been traded again, this time from Chivas USA to New England, in exchange for allocation money. The allocation amount, as is customary, hasn’t been specified, but it's clear that the Colombian-born Agudelo hadn't met the needs of Mexican coach Jose Luis Sanchez Sola even though he scored two goals and assisted on another in his six appearances.

Agudelo, 20, is in his fourth professional season since debuting for the Red Bulls in October, 2010. The Red Bulls signed him as a Homegrown player after he’d come through the club’s academy program, yet the club traded him to Chivas USA a year ago in exchange for defender Heath Pearce. Agudelo's lifetime MLS stats with New York and Chivas USA are: 59 games (33 starts), 11 goals, and six assists.

He’s played 17 times for the U.S. national team, starting with his scoring debut against South Africa in November, 2010, and has a total of two goals. He played in a friendly against Russia last November and has one U.S. appearance this year in a January friendly with Canada.

Agudelo joins a Revolution struggling to score goals and in seventh place with a 2-3-3 record. The Revs have the fewest goals, four, in MLS. French striker Saer Sene recently returned after a long injury layoff, and Honduran forward Jerry Bengston has been struggling, so Agudelo might be joining the right team at the right time. The Revs have setup men in Andy Dorman, Lee Nguyen and Kelyn Rowe to supply the chances.

“We’re very pleased we were able to complete this deal with Chivas USA,” said Revs general manager Michael Burns in a team press release announcing the trade. “While Juan is a young player with tremendous potential, he also already has a lot of experience both inside our league and internationally with the U.S. national team. We believe Juan will improve our attack and make us a better team.”

Agudelo (6-foot-1, 180 pounds) moved from Colombia to New Jersey with his family when he was 8, and attended three semesters of the U.S. U-17 Residency Program (2008-09) in Bradenton, Fla. He played in the 2009 U-17 World Cup and for the U.S. U-23s in Olympic qualifying last year.