Sporting KC Looking to add Three to Six More Players this Window

On the eve of the 2026 Major League Soccer season, Sporting Kansas City’s President of Soccer Operations and General Manager, David Lee, spoke with the media in a wide-ranging interview (included in full at the bottom of this story). The topic of conversation lingered pretty heavily around the status of Sporting KC’s roster.

With the season set to start, the team is mostly made up of guys playing on MLS minimum contracts and lacks a lot of top end talent. Lee didn’t shy away from the tough questions and acknowledged things haven’t gone as he wanted and described his first transfer window in charge as “challenging.”

He also addressed the surprising trade of Daniel Salloi yesterday, the players he already has on the roster and the staff he continues to build.

Lee on the Roster: “We still have some work to do.”

When the KC Star’s Daniel Sperry asked his second question of the press conference, it centered around the roster build.

“Window is not closed,” began Lee, “but I certainly would characterize it as a challenging window so far. Still got a month left. We wanted to be further along than we are with bringing in players. And, you know, we still have some work to do to get the roster to where we want it to be.”

What’s Been the Hold Up on Signings?

To hear the team isn’t where anyone wants it to be is no surprise. Look no further than every social media comment, Reddit thread, Facebook post, SKC podcast and even the comments on the KC Soccer Journal, and you’ll see a frustrated fanbase who are unsatisfied with the pace of the rebuild.

So, what’s the issue? As one could expect, it’s not just one thing. Lee said there are some “dynamics in the internal market that have maybe impacted some things.” He specifically cited the cost of international roster slots, saying they’ve “gone through the roof.” Also, there have been “offseason challenges for players getting green cards.” 

Lee acknowledged that Sporting KC have five open international slots so Sporting KC should be fine on that front.

David also hinted at cost being a factor. It’s unclear if teams around the world are asking for exorbitant transfer fees, but Lee stressed, “one thing that we cannot do is to bring players in that will prohibit us from continuing to strengthen the roster year after year by either signing the wrong player for the wrong contract or the wrong value. And so, we’ve been pretty diligent in trying to make sure that the players that we do bring in are the ones that we’re really, really excited about and that fit how we’re going to model our salary cap and build our salary cap.”

Makes sense. Sporting KC have been burned in the past overpaying for mediocre talent.

He said a signing like Lasse Berg Johnsen is one that fits what they are trying to do. “It’s really important that we find guys that are in entering the peak age of their career,” said Lee. That’s a sharp contrast to a team that previously consistently signed guys on the wrong side of 30. 

How Many Signings are Coming?

Early in the press conference, Lee said, “we’re still looking to add a number of new players.” The KC Soccer Journal’s Thad Bell, pushed Lee on that, considering he mentioned “double digit” signings back at the beginning of January and the team has added six guys, mostly off the fringes of MLS free agency, since that time, while also subtracting a proven starter in Salloi. 

Lee advised, “It’s a little bit difficult to give a number. I would say probably somewhere between three and six is the hope. That’s sort of what we’re aiming at.”

When Thad asked if there only being 14 games before the World Cup break if that means they don’t feel compelled to rush into signings, Lee said, “I think that’s not been a focus or a priority or a reason for us to not sign a player.” 

But as Lee noted, it’s a unique situation this year. Last season, there were only nine games to go when the secondary transfer window opened. This year, there will be more than half of the games in the season after the summer transfer window. Lee added, “players will have a lot longer to impact our season” that join in the summer. 

What Positions?

With three to six more signings expected, it’s also important to know what Lee things are priority positions. He said they have three areas of focus.

At least one central defender, but “potentially” more than one. They also want another midfielder and then “wingers,” particular after the Salloi trade.

The team did add MLS veteran Ethan Bartlow today. Despite that, there is very little experience at the CB position, with the other three guys on the roster entering their second year in MLS (James, Miller and Meyer).

The Departure of Daniel Salloi

Speaking of the Salloi trade, what led to his sudden departure?

“How it came about really was Toronto approached us and expressed some interest in Daniel.” 

David Lee: "How it came about really was Toronto approached us and expressed some interest in Daniel [Salloi]." #SportingKC #TFCLive

— KC Soccer Journal (@kcsoccerjournal.bsky.social) 2026-02-21T02:51:06.250Z

Then Lee did what many have been asking Sporting KC to do for years. They sold a player instead of letting them walk for free at the end of their contract. Salloi’s deal expired at the end of the year. Instead of him simply leaving, Sporting KC may get up to $1 million in General Allocation Money to continue to build their roster.

Salloi Will Be Missed

Is it a Kansas City Problem?

One potential issue that many have brought up is KC isn’t New York. Maybe David Lee’s success at New York City FC simply isn’t translatable?

“One part that I wasn’t sure of, honestly, when I came into this role was how would it be sitting across a player and convincing them to come to Kansas City.” began Lee. “I’ve done it for a long time in New York. And I have to say, we sat across from a lot of players and had lots of conversations. And the level of interest in our club, in our city, in our organization, when you show anyone the facilities, when you talk about the things that are happening in the World Cup in Kansas City, and immediately we’re going to be internationally recognized city in soccer.”

“And so that part I was unsure of, and I have to say has been really a pleasant surprise for me. The players, our agents, everybody is really open and interested in what we’re doing and our project and how we’re going to be developing sport in Kansas City, which has been a real pleasant surprise for me.”

Lee did say there is one thing holding back Sporting KC right now. And it’s something he’s acknowledged since his opening presser, and that’s the “back-end resources that you have available,” said Lee. “Those are still very, very small here. And so that is an area that we have to improve, and we have to get better that will enable us to have smoother transfer windows. They’re never smooth, even with a fully functioning and built-out scouting department, you still go through challenges. So, I think that’s been one area that is different than New York.”

As has been mentioned before, Sporting KC are down to just Lee, Sporting Director Mike Burns, and one full time scout, Jacob Peterson. It’s an area they are working on.

Lee said they’ve “started to turn and conversations with owners around how we build out our staff… There’s going to be a lot more work both in scouting and analytics over the coming weeks and months to make sure that we modernize and prepare the backend resources that we have in both of those departments.”

He added, “we’ll certainly be hiring some people into both of those departments as we enter into summer window and then in the fall as well.”

New Performance Analysts

But it’s not just scouting and analytics.

Ten days ago, Daniel Sperry confirmed the team added some performance analysis hires. Lee expanded on the roles of Kyle Emerick, the team’s Head of Performance Analysis (formerly with Charlotte FC) and Chris Atkins, a new first team Performance Analyst (previously with FC Cincinnati).

“They are almost really an extension of the technical staff,” said Lee. “They work with the coaches every day, filming training, doing opposition scouting reports. It’s an area that we didn’t have anyone in place since Ash [Wallace] moved to become an assistant coach a few years ago. So, I knew that was an area that in order for us and to help our coaching staff as best as possible, we really wanted to add into those roles immediately.”

Failed Cesar Inga Transfer

David Lee was asked about the failed Cesar Inga transfer, and I’ll just let him tell you his thoughts on those dealings with Universitario.

#SportingKC's David Lee addressed the failed Cesar Inga transfer after Universitario, "decided to put everything into the public domain."

— KC Soccer Journal (@kcsoccerjournal.bsky.social) 2026-02-21T02:23:46.045Z

Full Press Conference

If you prefer to just hear the whole thing, we’ve got you covered.