Sporting KC Summer Transfers: Priorities and Opportunities

The MLS Secondary Transfer window is upon us, opening on July 18. For Sporting Kansas City fans, it allows for a welcome distraction from what has been a difficult season as well as potential optimism about what is to come. Sporting KC have hired a new sporting director, made promises about increased investment from ownership, and an upcoming roster overhaul. This will be the first opportunity for the club to take action in that regard. So, what can Sporting KC reasonably accomplish this summer? What is realistic, and what do we know based on public comments by both Peter Vermes and Mike Burns about what they are looking for? My hope is to try to provide some potential answers to those questions, so that if/when SKC signs a player this summer, it isn’t too much of a surprise.

I wrote an article earlier this year getting into a lot of detail and sharing spreadsheets I manage to try to get a grasp on SKC’s salary cap position. MLS roster rules are quite complex and include so many grey areas that this article would look like a George R.R. Martin novel if I were to attempt to cover them all. I recognize that is only interesting to a very specific subset of fans, so I am keeping this article low on density. As such I will avoid a lot of the details about how I came to some of these conclusions and ask you to trust the fact that I did do the work in the background.

First, let’s talk about what type of players SKC is likely targeting. Peter Vermes has been open that he is targeting an Attacking Midfielder (often colloquially referred to as a #10), but also stated an overall priority that team become better defensively in an interview with Sam McDowell of the KC Star. He cited needs in central defense and central midfield, as well as profiling two players specifically in the TAM range, one being targeted for this summer, and the second in the winter.

TAM players being those whose salary cap charge is above the maximum but below the Designated Player threshold (between $683,750 and $1,683,750). Mike Illig highlighted the position of Winger and Center Back being the focus this summer in an earlier interview also with Sam McDowell of the KC Star, and Mike Burns discussed adding “a player” in the upcoming transfer window in a recent press conference. Given that all but one player (Alan Pulido) on SKC’s current roster makes under the Designated Player threshold, you can see that there is potential for significant quality to come from this acquisition. That said, we probably shouldn’t expect to see more than one signing of significance this summer.

You may be wondering why there aren’t more transformational changes being discussed, when there were many statements made recently about a new, significant 4-year budget approved by owners to invest in the roster and in the technical staff. Well, most of that is due to those aforementioned complex roster rules and was alluded to by Mike Burns in his introductory press conference. Candidly, SKC just doesn’t have much flexibility to make changes to their roster this summer. They do have two open senior roster spots but limited available allocation money to remain cap compliant after signing players.

You may have also heard that SKC has flexibility to add a Designated Player (DP). While that is true, it is unlikely that they make that signing now, for a couple reasons. First, it is ostensibly Mike Burns’ responsibility to identify, recruit, and negotiate the transfer of such a player. This is normally an investment of several millions of dollars, is generally a 3+ year contract commitment, and must be in line with a larger plan for how SKC is going to build its roster for the next several years. Burns has simply not been in role long enough to be effective in making this kind of transaction.

Additionally, as has been stated by Vermes and Burns, the club is in a position in the upcoming offseason to make decisions on retaining or moving on from 17 players. Generally, you want to have a clear idea of what those decisions will be to ensure your DP investment aligns with those decisions. Outside of some seminal player becoming available to the club that you would otherwise have no other chance of signing, making a DP signing this summer doesn’t seem likely or appropriate.

Using this knowledge to help us, I think we can expect that while the most important need, Attacking Midfielder/#10 probably isn’t likely to be addressed this summer, simply due to profile. If you look around MLS at the best #10’s (e.g. Luciano Acosta, Hany Mukhtar, Carles Gil, etc.) they are all Designated Players. I would expect that SKC is profiling a DP for their own need at the #10 position, and as such likely will not be addressed now.

Mike Illig has name checked central defense and winger as targets for this summer, and I think we can add central midfield as well given SKC’s limited resources at that position currently and the recent commentary from Vermes. Those are all positions where TAM players can be effective. SKC has examples of them in all three roles. Dany Rosero, Remi Walter, Erik Thommy and Johnny Russell are all TAM players. Daniel Salloi, while technically listed as a DP, has a cap charge that is in the TAM range as well.

My personal opinion is that Center Back or Central Midfield would be the most likely areas that a player is added, as they can both address a significant area of need the rest of this year, as well as be a building block for the rest of the roster planning in the winter. As you can often hear Cody Welton and I discuss on the Home and Away podcast, the spine (central defense, central midfield, center forward) is the most important part of the roster and is the foundation the rest of your team is built on. This team needs to shore up its foundation, and that is where I expect (and would like) them to focus first.