Sporting KC
Rumor: Pulido Won’t Re-Sign but Sporting KC Want a Big Fee
Is Alan Pulido on the move from Sporting Kansas City this summer, or just after the season. Let us explain the whys and hows.
The next rumor in the ongoing, will he or won’t he re-sign, saga for Alan Pulido took another couple steps forward this week. First, came a report from Rodrigo Camacho of Fox Sports Mexico that Pulido won’t re-sign with Sporting Kansas City. He also reported that Chivas Guadalajara want him now on a free transfer, while Sporting KC want “to negotiate.” It’s unclear from that report (more clarity coming in a second) if that meant SKC negotiating with Pulido or with Chivas for a sale.
🔴 El Guadalajara negocia el regreso de Alan Pulido. Retomaron contacto con el jugador y el club hace poco.
🔙 La situación es compleja. @Chivas quiere YA libre al jugador, que termina contrato en 6 meses y no renovará. El @SportingKC quiere negociar.@FOXSportsMX pic.twitter.com/eXJjbizpQL
— Rodrigo Camacho (@rodrigocamacho_) May 31, 2023
Then, the account “Sporting KC Daily” got clarification that Sporting KC were trying to get a transfer fee for Pulido, versus letting him walk for free in the winter.
I want to repost this translation from @SKCdaily #SportingKC pic.twitter.com/rsExnJAzYW
— Chad Smith (@PlayFor90) June 2, 2023
Then came further reporting from Fernando Cevallos, also of Fox Sports Mexico, that their asking price is pretty high. $2 million.
🚨Chivas🚨Alan Pulido… #SportingKC quiere 2M de dólares por él, solo tiene 6 meses más de contrato, lo que podría favorecer en la negociación donde podría entrar algún jugador para sacarlo ahora en verano… Pulido quiere volver y Chivas necesita un “9” de garantías @FOXSportsMX
— Fernando Cevallos (@FerCevallosF) June 1, 2023
What Does it All Mean?
I’d say it’s basically where we left it in early May, if you are interested in reading that in much greater detail.
Without re-writing every word I wrote in that story; I’ll try to summarize. If Sporting KC do nothing, Alan Pulido can sign a pre-contract this summer to leave for free once the season is over. Remember, they paid $8 million to get him from Chivas originally and another $2.2 million per season on his contract. If he plays out the entire season, they’ll be $16.8 million in the hole for Pulido.
If they want to re-coup some of that investment, selling him in the coming weeks makes sense. They’d get some of that money back and save half a season worth of salary.
The complications of selling him now are twofold. First, Chivas almost certainly won’t pay that much money for a player they can have for free in six months (for reference, Sporting KC reportedly paid $280,000 to get Johnny Russell a little early from Derby County back in 2018). Second, it would almost certainly mean the 2023 season is a bust, and on the heels of SKC having the second-best record in the league in the month of May.
Peter Vermes seems to be coaching for his job. That’s probably why the price was set so high on Pulido. He’s not going to play the rest of the year with Stephen Afrifa or Khiry Shelton at striker. Willy Agada is set to be back this summer, but guys are seemingly never ready to go off an injury right away and it would take time for him to find his form, if he does at all.
The only way I see Vermes selling Pulido is if they have another player lined up. A big-time, Designated Player, who will be the team’s striker for the foreseeable future. That would be hard to pull off until they have the deal negotiated with Chivas. If they lock that down and free up a DP spot, then they can switch gears and it should be easier to get a player in the much busier summer window (for most of the world) than it may otherwise be.
So, let the rumors begin. Who should Sporting KC sign since it seems Alan Pulido isn’t long for a Sporting Blue jersey?
Update 3:40 PM: Thad asked Peter Vermes about Pulido and he said he hasn’t had any conversations with Chivas. That said, I feel like he wouldn’t tell us until it was over.
PV: Not one conversation with Chivas about Pulido returning there. #SportingKC #Chivas
— Thad (@TheBackpost) June 2, 2023
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I’d propose a trade of sorts if the 9’s Chivas has were close in their recovery. However, neither is.
Jj Macias was working back from an acl injury earlier in the previous tournament that just wrapped up and then proceeded to blow out the acl again in his first training. And Cisneros blew out his knee in the quarterfinal I believe and is out for awhile. Maybe trade him for Macias, Cisneros I believed played for Atlanta and didn’t do much, but it’s basically discarding a guy who couldn’t stay healthy for a player who is also unable to stay healthy albeit younger. I believe Macias is also nearing the end of his deal so it could be a cheap alternative but again you’d be folding the rest of the season unless afrifa becomes a god send while Macias/Agada regain health.
It would be cool for another liga Mx striker to come around. With the previous tournament ending last weekend, all the teams right now are negotiating and building rosters which means some players will be left out. Some rumors I’ve heard lately that are fairly bigger names that might be available: Henry Martin was arguably the best 9 on the World Cup roster this year (outside of Santi Giménez who for whatever dumb ass excuse tata left at home), and I believe tied for top scorer in the league this tournament. But there’s rumors that Raul Jimenez could be coming home to Club America after doing nothing in Wolverhampton for a year. He wouldn’t be cheap, but he’d be a huge get.
There’s also rumors that Monterrey is negotiating a transfer of Funes Mori to my beloved Cruz Azul. One could assume Sporting Kc could step in if the price was right, I personally think he’s a bit overhyped since I don’t really watch Monterrey games but follow the national team. Seems he’s one to play well at his club, but hasn’t performed in his limited appearances since switching to Mexico. He has experience with mls in Houston i believe so he’s familiar.
Speaking of Cruz azul, they switched coaches (as many liga Mx teams do) this tournament to Tuca Ferretti. He’s overhauling the roster there and no one, it seems, is safe. He’s brought in Aguirre from santos, a promising young 9, and is rumored to be looking for a landing spot for Ivan Morales. He hasn’t done much for them, but he’s relatively young at 23 and had some promise and has had some interest in the league, with cruz azul being open to a loan and even paying part of his salary which they’ve been stuck with.
The problem with liga Mx is they tend to over price their players, which is partially why theres less players abroad. Supposedly, after not making out of the group in the World Cup, one of the resolutions they agreed to was to have more of an emphasis at sending players to play in foreign leagues but that remains to be seen. As much as I’d like another high performer from Mexico, I just don’t know if sporting would be willing to spend like they did with pulido to make it happen.
Really good insight on Liga MX. I don’t know anything about them for the most part, so I appreciate this.
If we have somebody lined up that can get in fast and Agada will be back by the time he leaves I’m not necessarily against it. It frees up a DP spot that we can use as either a replacement or start to rebuild CB room with Fontas nearing the end if there’s a non DP forward.
I think anything we can get from Agada this year is a bonus. Don’t push it. Don’t expect it. Obviously the smart thing to do is to get Pulido’s numbers off the book. He doesn’t want to be here, and sooner or later, that’s going to turn his head. When it does, SKC is back to a black hole at striker.
However, I also recognize that Vermes is well aware letting Pulido go at a massive loss, and then having the season go bust because there’s no plan for the striker position, woul pretty much put paid to his job. So he’s going to roll the dice and let Pulido play out the contract. And hope that if Pulido does check out, Agada is ready by then to step back in.
That reads as too many ifs for me to be happy. But they have to move a DP to bring one in. And MLS isn’t a league where rental contracts are picked up.
Im just trying to figure out how this benefits anyone if it is true. I think I saw Thad tweet that there hasn’t been any conversations between the teams so it could be much ado about nothing.
It doesn’t benefit Chivas. They are getting a player that was successful for them, but on the wrong side of 30 in a position of need. But it’s a need because the younger options they had were ineffective and hurt. Cisneros had moments not nothing great and he’s out with a long term injury, and Macias has had 2 knee injuries since his return from Europe and hasn’t played. Do they honestly think pulido who is still regaining form from a long term injury as well is going to be the answer to their prayers?
It doesn’t benefit pulido. Sure he gets to go back to Mexico and the team where he had his success. But he’s also mostly a short term fill in until Macias, Cisneros, or a future younger 9 comes along. So he’d be looking for another job pretty quickly one would presume.
It doesn’t necessarily help Sporting. Sure, getting something helps. But it would arguably tank the season and while Peter made big moves last summer window, he’s pretty open about not preferring to make mid season moves.
For what it’s worth, Chivas has been connected with: Vela, Chicharito, Acevedo, etc. I think it’s more of an assumption that players return to their original club when they’ve been abroad in the Mexican league. Ochoa returning to America in between stints in Europe, lainez was supposed to but he wouldn’t take a pay cut so he went to tigres instead, and Raul Jimenez is rumored to be working out a deal to return there as well. But I just don’t get how it makes sense for anyone supposedly involved.
One thing Thad pointed out to me that I didn’t put in the story was that Pulido was in a lawsuit with Chivas. I’m not sure if that ever got settled. If not, would he even want to go back there?
https://www.thebluetestament.com/2021/1/7/22220087/pulido-sues-former-club-chivas-sporting-kansas-city
It’s a good point. And its worth noting both teams he played for, Chivas and tigres, he left in some sort of a legal battle. Tigres he alleged the team forged his signature on a contract extension and tried to push his way to Greece. And like you said he eventually sued the team to recover what can be assumed a percentage of the fee he was promised. He posts a lot about Chivas so i have to believe he still holds the team highly, and the gm I believe is different so there’s potential that maybe any lingering hostility left with him. But, it’s also worth nothing Almeyda was the coach who was there when they won a tournament before pulido moved, left for San José citing issues with the board and he’s in Greece now. Plus, the roster is largely gone from that time too. So he’d have an entirely different technical staff and teammates than his previous tenure.
Ironically, both of his former teams were the ones playing the final last weekend.
Great insight!
I wonder is pulido the worst signing (biggest bust) in skc history?
I don’t have enough time to pay attention to other signing options that exist in the world but someone that is an aerial threat and finisher would be nice. It is clear we aren’t going to beat with speed on the counter (despite the opportunities to do so) so shouldn’t we try to find someone that is a menace with finishing?
Screw it, let’s try to sign Haaland.
Love Pulido’s creativity and experience, but he’s just so slow… I’ll jump on the Haaland train anytime. Also it’s too bad Neymar wants to join ManU, SKC’d be a better fit… I wish
Define biggest bust. I’d put Yohan Croizet in the mix. When Pulido is healthy he’s excellent. He’s just missed a lot of time.
Yohan also was played out of position though, right? If I recall he was a winger/striker that vermes converted to midfield?
Biggest bust, in terms of value KC got for the price, maybe. Pulido has been more available than Justin Mapp and Brad Evans & certainly a better player, but we didn’t pay $8M+ for either of them.
He was signed as an attacking midfielder. With SKC he got minutes at the wing and even dabbled at LB a couple of times but predominately used as a midfielder.
He also played striker a bit.
Joao Felix
Well… he could use a fresh start.
Let’s also not forget about the kidnapping sage he had in Mexico, which you would think he would be a little concerned about
So since we just traded away an international roster spot, do we even have any left to sign someone in the summer window (even if it was very unlikely we would anyways)?
I’m seeing we have 8 international spots used, but it’s unclear who is what, as Sporting’s site lists Pulido and Kinda as designated players (do DPs count towards international spots), meanwhile Thommy is just listed as international.