RUMOR: A.J. Soares To Test Europe, Go Unprotected by Revs in Expansion Draft

We're still awaiting the official New England Revolution expansion draft list from the league/club, but according to two reporters on Twitter, Revs defender A.J. Soares will not be on that list.

Instead, the out of contract Soares will test the waters abroad in Europe, where he holds an Italian passport clearing the way for him to sign and avoiding all those pesky work permit issues that plagued Juan Agudelo earlier this year.

From Fox Soccer's Kyle McCarthy and KICK TV's Jimmy Conrad:

New England expected to leave A.J. Soares unprotected in expansion draft. Soares is out of contract and holds EU passport. #MLS

— Kyle McCarthy (@kylejmccarthy) December 8, 2014

INSIDE SCOOP: According to his agent, @mikegartlan, @AjSoares is leaving the @NERevolution to take his talents to Europe. More details soon.

— Jimmy Conrad (@JimmyConrad) December 8, 2014

Both McCarthy and Conrad are as dialed in as anyone to MLS, in particular McCarthy as far as New England goes, and since Conrad is actually quoting Soares' agent, there's probably some legs to this story. It should be noted that Soares won the Revs' Players MVP and Team Defender for 2014 with a solid campaign starting 32 games for the Revs and tallying one goal and two assist in 2014.

Soares was originally the 6th pick for the Revs in the first round of the 2011 MLS SuperDraft after playing college soccer at Cal. We originally protected Soares during SBN's mock draft last week so we'll see if this report change's the Revs strategy heading into this week's expansion draft for New York City FC and Orlando City SC.