Wednesday, 20th November, 2013
Stoke City's hopes of signing American international Juan Agudelo are over after their appeal for a work permit was today rejected by a panel in London.
The Potters had been preparing to add Agudelo to their squad when the transfer window opens once again in January, however those hopes have now been dashed.
The 20-year-old striker was deemed not to meet the criteria demanded for the granting of a work permit and as such will not be moving to the Britannia Stadium to play Premier League football.
Stoke chief executive Tony Scholes has been quick to express his bafflement at the decision handed down by the panel and told his club's official site: "We’re bitterly disappointed that the panel rejected our appeal for a work permit for Juan.
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"The criteria by which the panel should make work permit application decisions are well established and have been in place for some years and, despite recent comments to the media and discussion in the media, that criteria has not changed.
"We are therefore left amazed that our application for a work permit for Juan has been rejected when you compare his talent and ability to players who have been granted a work permit on appeal in the past.
"Unfortunately, under the rules of the appeal panel system we were given no explanation why the application was rejected and so can only speculate as to the reasons why we have been unsuccessful."
Agudelo, who has won 17 caps for the United States since 2010, will now look to continue his career in the MLS, where he has been turning out for New England Revolution.
The development may force manager Mark Hughes to add another striker to his wanted list for the upcoming January transfer window, which is now just six weeks away.
Stoke sit a lowly 17th in the Premier League table at present with just ten points from their first eleven fixtures. They next face Sunderland at home in a "six-pointer" on Saturday. To find out more about the upcoming fixtures, click on all the hottest Premier League 2013 news here.
