Revolution Clarify Bengtson's Future With the Club

When the New England Revolution signed Jerry Bengtson to a Designated Player deal back in July of 2012, there was an undeniable sense of buzz and excitement around the club.

After all, Bengtson was putting up impressive numbers with the Honduran national team and seemed prime to put the Rev's scoring woes in the rearview mirror. However, as things stand now, the Bengtson era has been marred by confusion and mixed results.

The 28-year-old striker has scored four times in 36 appearances for the Revs - a far cry from his 20 with Honduras - and most perplexingly of all has not been around Gillette Stadium for now almost a year. Back in late July of 2014 he was loaned to Argentinian club Club Atletico Belgrano where he has only managed to score once.

The loan is set to expire on June 30th of this year, so Revs GM Mike Burns recently took some time on Comcast Sports Network’s State of the Revs segment to clarify where the Honduran forward stands on New England's roster.

"Jerry is technically still on our roster, but he’s off our roster in the sense that he’s not a designated player anymore - he is on loan to Belgrano in Argentina," he said. "…So he’s on loan right now, which makes him off our roster, but June 30th when the roster expires, Belgrano has an option to purchase him from MLS and its their decision."

Considering all of that, Belgrano is the one calling the shots here. While, much like during his time with the Revs, he hasn’t featured majorly for them, but there is every reason to believe an agreement of some sorts could be reached between the two clubs.

However, if an agreement is not reached, Bengtson will be under contract with MLS and the Revolution come the end of the loan deal. If that is the route Bengtson’s future goes down, it is similarly unclear as to what role he could play on this current Revs team.

Since he last left, Charlie Davies, Juan Agudelo, Teal Bunbury, Diego Fagundez, Kelyn Rowe, and Sean Okoli have emerged as a dangerous six-person attacking force. Also, Bengtson will likely feature with Honduras during this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup in the U.S., thus making the forward’s future even more perplexing.

Mindful of all of that, Burns assured that the situation is up in the air at the moment and a multiple of scenarios could unfold. Regardless of what unfolds, Belgrano possesses a great deal of influence over Bengtson’s future.

"Are there other possibilities that can happen? A loan extension? Or he ends up going to another club? For sure, but there is always that possibility that come July 1st he is back in a Revs uniform," Burns said. "That remains to be seen because right now Belgrano is the ultimate decision maker of whether or not they chose to purchase him."