Well, today he is definitely being announced as a Stoke City capture (apparently along with John Guidetti, a man with no less than five middle names). As I noted last week, a work permit denial cannot void a
signed pre-deal, so he has actually remained a Stoke man in
secret all along. They have been offering him around for a six-month loan for weeks now.
I am also about 98% certain of where he is headed on loan (think big Low Lands club). I have been waiting for that last morsel of certainty since Sunday, and when it finally comes there will be a full MLSS report.
UPDATE: Well, there are supposed to be three Stoke news items in
total today. Stephen Ireland's loan was officially made permanent.
Guidetti's loan from Man City has now been announced. The waiting is the hardest part.
UPDATE UPDATE: Let's all hope I do not regret adding the word today in the opening sentence above (one would think I could learn about affixing strict time limits to these wacky dealings). Or maybe I'm just paranoid having had only a couple hours sleep for trying to finally wrap this case with a neat bow. Either way, I have not heard of any wild twists, other than that Stoke have apparently added Charlie Adam talks with Galatasaray to the ongoing Kenwyne Jones situation already on their plate. Makes me wonder if they will now get to this today. Quoth Liz Lemon, I am going to go talk to some food about this.
UPDATE³: Various voices on both sides of the Atlantic are claiming the Agudelo pact with Stoke is for four-and-a-half years. I have no info on the contract length, but it sounds reasonable enough.
- Greg Seltzer
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13 comments:
I am embarrassed to admit that I Googled Low Lands and came back with nil. I am hoping that is hip slang for the Netherlands.
Low Lands = Belgium + the Netherlands
Ah. Excellent. Would be happy with either country. Heard rumblings about Standard Liege. Would prefer the Netherlands though.
Here I was certain you meant the Scottish lowlands, and he was finally on his way to Celtic (not that I though this was a good idea, mind).
Rumor I've heard is Anderlecht
where in the world is mo edu? ben franklin is waiting for you.
@ dan: Celtic would present the issue of a UK work permit, which *for the moment* appears out of reach.
Greg, I have heard the rules for a WP in Scotland are different, especially if it is Celtic. Is that correct?
No, they are the same rules. Of course, the bar to reach for being considered a good enough addition to the league is different in Scotland than in England. Nevertheless, being that Stoke just had one rejected, I'd imagine there could be an uproar if he got one now with no further playing evidence provided.
As for the Celtic question, who really knows? We have such allegations in nearly every country. Some of them are surely true, some not. I would hate to study SPL transfers to find out. :D
Wouldn't it be kind of, um, a terrible idea to sign a contract for 4.5 years in a country where one is not currently permitted to work?
As I said, this is not a whole new deal they have put together. Barring any alterations for the loan, it is the same pre-contract he signed in August, before he knew the work permit would be denied.
He'd just be on loan, getting valuable playing time until a permit can be obtained. Just a longer than expected investment from Stoke.
Okay, my bad. Didn't realize the terms were already set in the pre-contract.
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