Robbie Rogers Receives Work Permit, Deal With Leeds United Complete

United States Men's National team midfielder Robbie Rogers received his UK work permit today according to Yanks Abroad. His pending move with English Championship side Leeds United is now complete.

The deal with Leeds was dependent on Rogers receiving his work permit. Now the former Columbus Crew midfielder can officially join Leeds.

Rogers won his work permit through an appeals process. His case was bolstered by the fact he has been a member of the US national team recently, was on the roster for the last two Gold Cup teams, was on the 2010 preliminary World Cup roster, he played in 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

Rogers had been with the Crew since 2007, where he played in 106 league games and scored 13 goals. In 2008, he was named to the league's Best XI and the Crew won both the Supporter's Shield and the MLS Cup.

Rogers becomes the sixth American to join Leeds behind current United striker Mike Grella and former national team player Eddie Lewis, Jemal Johnson, Eric Lichaj and Paul Rachubka.

Nobody expected Robbie Rogers to be with the Columbus Crew next year and now it looks like we might know where he'll be. According to Ives Galarcep, Rogers is likely to sign with Leeds United and make the move to England's Championship after turning down the chance to stay in MLS with a new team. If the move happens, it will be a return to Europe for Rogers, who has made no secret of his desire to play there after he started his career with Heerenveen only to make no appearances before spending five years in Columbus.

Rogers' play dipped last year and with it went his playing time, making it a foregone conclusion that he would look to move elsewhere, a move the Crew were happy to give him. He spent much of the winter on trial abroad, including at Leeds, who appear to have seen something they like. Rogers won't be walking into an easy situation though, with Tottenham Hotspur's Andros Townsend on loan and playing well on one wing, Robert Snodgrass on the other wing, Ramon Nunez a wide option and captain Jonny Howson also an attacking player, albeit more centrally. Even with Snodgross and Howson injured, there doesn't appear to be much of an opportunity for Rogers to play unless there are further injuries.

Exactly how Rogers plans on getting a work permit remains a mystery. He certainly doesn't qualify under the work permit rules that require a player to play 75% of his country's national team matches, meaning he will have to appeal for one, but he could argue that he has been a bigger part of the national team under Jurgen Klinsmann. If Klinsmann helps out and pledges to the appeals board to make Rogers a fixture in the squad going forward, maybe Rogers will have a chance, but it appears to be a stretch considering he still had just five caps in 2011.