Grella's Motherwell loan spell terminated after just one day!!

Mike Grella’s loan deal with Motherwell has come to an end after just one day. The striker, recruited from Leeds United, has been prevented from moving to the SPL because he has already played for two clubs this season.

American Grella, who moved to England in 2009 from Cary RailHawks, was due to make his Motherwell debut at Fir Park this weekend in the Steelmen’s SPL clash with Hibernian.

But, having played for parent club Leeds and on loan at Carlisle United, the 23-year-old is unable to play for a third team in the one season, as per FIFA rules. A player is allowed to be registered to three clubs within the period of one season but, under the regulations, may only play for two.

Motherwell chief Executive Leeann Dempster confirmed the deal had fallen through in a statement on the club's official website. It read: “Motherwell Football Club have benefited from the FIFA cross border rules in previous years however in this instance, things have worked against us which is extremely disappointing.

“Our focus now is to provide Stuart McCall with all the tools he needs to bring in additional players.”

Speaking on Thursday, Well boss Stuart McCall had spoken of his happiness at landing the striker, who he had hoped would offset the loss of forwards Nick Blackman and Alan Gow.

"He needs to get out and play some games but I have got high hopes for him," McCall told STV. "He's got a lot of ability and his goalscoring record is good in the reserve side.

"He went to Carlisle and scored three in 10, although he was playing in a wide area.

“If you look at our last few games, we've created chances but we've just not been scoring the goals. We lost [Nick] Blackman and [Alan] Gow so we need to strengthen in the forward area, which we've done.”

New York-born Grella started his career with Duke University’s Blue Devils before a switch to play for PDL side Long Island Rough Riders. He was drafted to Toronto FC in the 2009 MLS Superdraft but rejected terms with the Canadian club, instead opting to move to Europe.

After a successful trial period, Grella agreed terms with Leeds United and made his debut in a League One match against Huddersfield Town. His first goal for the Whites then came against Stockport but he has scored on just four further occasions, against Kettering Town, Oldham and Carlisle.
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