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Juan Agudelo completes deal to join New England Revolution

The New England Revolution completed a deal on Friday to bring U.S. international forward Juan Agudelo back to the club.

Agudelo's deal will run through 2018, though he will not be a designated player, a source told ESPN FC's Jeff Carlisle.

The 22-year-old played with the Revolution in 2013, scoring seven goals, then departed to attempt a move to play in Europe. Agudelo has been out of action since his loan stint with Dutch side FC Utrecht ended last May.

He had been on the books of English Premier League side Stoke City, but after twice having applications for a work permit denied, his contract was terminated.

MLS attempted to secure Agudelo's services last summer but was turned down because of his insistence on playing in Europe. Agudelo had also been linked with Bundesliga side Werder Bremen, but his desire to play in England saw him turn that deal down as well.

But as the process continued to drag on with no sign of a resolution in sight, and with Agudelo idle during the prime of his career, he made the decision to return to MLS. Now Agudelo will return to New England, who retained his rights because the forward left the club when his contract expired at the end of the 2013 season.

"Juan is a player that we always knew that we would be interested in welcoming back to the club if the opportunity presented itself, and now it has," Revolution general manager Michael Burns said. "He is familiar with our club, our coaches, many of his teammates and the system that we play so we are confident that he will be able to fit right in and help us straight away."

Agudelo confirmed the move on Twitter on Thursday: 

Agudelo has played in 73 regular-season MLS games in four seasons, starting 44 times, after the New York Red Bulls made him the franchise's first homegrown player in 2010. In 2012, he was traded to Chivas, which dealt him to New England a year later.

The Colombian-born Agudelo has 18 caps with the U.S. national team, though the majority of those came in 2011.

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