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Rumor: Sporting KC Linked to Spanish Midfielder

A new rumor has Sporting Kansas City chasing a player out of Barcelona who is just 20 years old and looks like a talent.

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Credit: Thad Bell

In 2023 the LA Galaxy finished 13th in the MLS Western Conference standings. In 2024 they won MLS Cup. In 2024 Sporting Kansas City finished 13th in the West, but they haven’t made the type of moves the Galaxy made in the offseason between these years or in the windows ahead of that resurgence.

Then you can imagine why an article titled, “Kansas looks for its ‘Riqui Puig'” might draw some eyeballs. Diario AS, a Spanish daily sports newspaper, are reporting that Sporting KC “have started contacts” with Barcelona about acquiring the captain of Barca B, Unai Hernandez. They are reporting the fee between €2 to €4 million (approx. $2.04 to $4.08 million USD).

According to Transfermarkt the 20-year-old Spaniard is out of contract this summer but the reason for a fee instead of a pre-contract could be for a couple of reasons. First, Sporting KC likely want to get him into the team sooner than later. Also, AS are reporting interest from Spanish clubs Alavés and Leganés.

Before coming to the Catalan club, Hernandez was in the Girona youth setup. He joined the Barca U-19s in the summer of 2022 and moved to Barca B last summer. Sporting KC have quite the history with Barcelona, having brought over a significant number of players with experience at the Spanish club including Andreu Fontas, Ilie Sanchez, Cristian Lobato, Uri Rosell and Jordi Quintilla.

In 2024, Hernandez scored nine goals and added three assists over 19 appearances and 1,709 minutes. Transfermarkt currently lists his value at €1 million.

Roster Budget Fit

The rumored transfer is not an insignificant fee, but if it’s true, it seems like it would fit into the U-22 initiative, depending on his salary. It would mark a clear change in ambition considering reporting on the Robert Voloder and Logan Ndenbe transfer fees from Tom Bogert has them both below $1 million.

If you aren’t familiar with the U-22 Initiative, it’s a mechanism MLS invented a few years ago to encourage spending on players with upside to be sold later. A player can have an unlimited transfer fee and are only limited by age (under-22 is right in the title) and their salary. They have to be under the max budget charge, which is $743,750 in 2025. Then players count between $150,000 and $200,000 on the roster budget, depending on age. Hernandez should fall into the $150,000 bucket.

Sporting KC have had three U-22 Initiative players in their history. The aforementioned Voloder and Ndenbe, along with Cyprus international Marinos Tzionis who left the club last season.

Roster Positional Fit

Sporting KC currently have nine open roster spots, and they can use help at almost every position. Perhaps the thinnest of the lines is in the midfield. Unai Hernandez is listed as a central midfielder, and he had most of his starts there last season. He can also play attacking midfielder and on the left wing. He’s right footed and from his highlights he likes to cut in on that foot. KC do have a glut of players who do that in Daniel Salloi, Stephen Afrifa and Erik Thommy.

It’s unlikely he’s the Designated Player #10 this team is looking for, but with the foot skills Barcelona players are known for, perhaps he can develop into that sort of contributor. After all, the article did make the Riqui Puig comparison.

One look at his highlight reel and you’ll lose your mind. But they are highlights. They don’t tend to show the defense, which is important too. And it’s against a lower tier of competition.

Likelihood of it Happening

With rumors, you just never know if they are true. It seemingly fits a need on the team and him coming from Barcelona B is something Kansas City have done many times in the past. We all know Peter Vermes loves to grab him some former Barcelona players. This move would be one of a bit of a higher profile and certainly the highest transfer fee as the others were free transfers.

Only time will tell if this is real. What do you think of Unai Hernandez?

I've been covering Kansas City soccer since 2014, including Sporting Kansas City, the KC Current, SKC II and more. I'm based out of Kansas City, MO, but got my start covering SKC while writing from Phoenix, AZ.

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