Rumor: Sporting KC to Acquire Left Back Emir Karic

Sporting Kansas City still won’t return to play for almost another month with the 2026 FIFA World Cup catching the eye of football fans everywhere. That doesn’t mean they aren’t staying busy. President of Soccer Operations and General Manager, David Lee, has his hands full trying to build out the remainder of the roster. He’s rumored to have mentioned four to seven starter level signings are coming, and one may have been revealed yesterday.

According to 90 Minuten, an Austrian publication, Emir Karic “is on the verge of a transfer to Kansas City in the USA and left the training ground before practice even started.”

The move, if true, is slightly out of the path of other moves by Lee so far. Karic is 29 and a member of Sturm Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga. Lee has tended to favor signing players in their mid-20s or even younger. He plays left back and was recently called into the World Cup squad of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

His international side has struggled at the World Cup so far, with just one point through two games. However, Karic wasn’t on the field for either result.

Before joining Sturm Graz in Austria, Karic played for Darmstadt 98 (2. Bundesliga) in Germany and a couple of other Austrian clubs: SCR Altach and FC Liefering. Before joining Liefering, he was in the youth system at LASK.

In his career, Karis has played 343 games in all competitions. He has seven goals and 21 assists in that time.

Sporting KC Fit

Transfermrkt has his value at €1.2 million and shows him under contract until next summer. That would seem to imply a transfer fee is involved to pry him loose from his current club. And as a dual citizen of Austria and Bosnia-Herzegovina, he’ll require an international roster spot. KC only has one officially open right now, though more green cards could be (and are rumored to be) on the way.

Left back would seem to fill a need as well. The team officially only has Jayden Reid available at left back and he joined after being a trialist in preseason. Zorhan Bassong was thought to be set to play some left back, with head coach Rapha Wicky even saying in preseason he foresaw him lined up there. However, upon return to the lineup, he’s been used primarily in the midfield to stabilize things.

The team tried to sign left back Cesar Inga back in December before a deal with Universitario de Deportes fell through.

England Friendly

While David Lee has been hard at work off the field, the guys are staying busy too. On Tuesday, Sporting KC played a closed door friendly against the English National Team. Reports are KC lost 5-1 partially by way of an Ivan Toney hat trick, but Harry Kane did say that SKC’s goal came on a free kick. No word yet on who scored it.

They will apparently play another game, that hopefully goes better, against the Des Moines Menace in the coming days or weeks.

There are likely more rumors to come with Sporting KC having so many needs. Stay with the KC Soccer Journal for all things Kansas City soccer.