Sporting KC Sell Dejan Joveljic; Explaining the Meaning for the Roster

On Tuesday, Sporting Kansas City made it official. Star striker, Dejan Joveljic, was sold to the Seattle Sounders for $6 million. The rumor had been stirring since Saturday night, but it didn’t make it any less jarring when the announcement came out.

The reactions were pretty unanimous.

• But he’s our best player…
• Only $6 million, he’s an elite goal scorer…
• And some version of the worst team just got worse.

It’s all very understandable. In a little over 18 months with the team, Joveljic has banged in 26 goals and added five assists in just 55 matches. It’s an elite goal contribution rate that won’t be easy to replace.

But there is more to the story.

Sporting KC’s President of Soccer Operations and General Manager David Lee will address the media on Thursday. In the press release, he added a statement:

Let’s break all of that down.

What is General Allocation Money?

Without getting too deep into the weeds, General Allocation Money (GAM) allows a team to spend more money on players to fit them into the salary budget. Major League Soccer doesn’t have a hard cap, but instead an incredibly complicated set of rules that allows money to be spent in various ways to build a roster.

GAM is a mechanism that allows teams to either buy down the salary of a player against the salary budget or buy down their transfer fee, so it doesn’t hit the budget at such a high number. GAM can also be traded for assets like international roster spots or draft picks, among other items (don’t get us started on Discovery Rights, etc., it’s a mess).

In short, GAM allows you to add more expensive players (salary or transfer fees) than you’d otherwise fit in the budget. This team needs more talent.

Open Designated Player Spots

Teams can have up to three Designated Players (DP) on their roster. A bit over a week ago, Sporting KC had two in Dejan Joveljic and Manu Garcia. They are both gone, but in between, new DP Andre Luiz joined on the fourth largest transfer in league history.

Now the team can add two more DPs. You can pay an unlimited transfer fee or salary for a DP, and they count the same against the salary budget. Yesterday, MLS insider Tom Bogert said SKC could spend “fifty to sixty million in total fees” before this window is over. The transfer window closes on September 2nd.

The Next Nine Days in the Transfer Market are Critical for Sporting KC

If David Lee can convince players to come to Kansas City, they can make two huge splashes in the coming days. Bogert said his sources stated that is the goal, with a fallback plan of getting another signing over the line in the winter if it doesn’t work out in the next few days.

The plan, according to Bogert, is to sign a #9 (striker) and #10 (attacking midfielder) with those open slots.

Tom also indicated the team is looking for a player with a different profile. Joveljic is elite at scoring goals, arguably the most important skill at his position. But other parts of his game are lacking. Lee wants to build a cohesive attack not overly reliant on one player and is looking for someone more well-rounded.

TL;DR

Sporting KC are looking to flip Joveljic into multiple players.

New majority owner Peter Mallouk has indicated a willingness to spend freely in ways this team has never seen before. The Luiz deal shows us that. Then Lee wants to take that extra GAM and add more pieces.

This team is more than one or two elite players away, but getting the DPs right will absolutely make a huge difference. Now the team can try to turn one star into another star plus more talent around him.

It’s all incredibly risky. Spending on players via transfer fees doesn’t equal success. Just ask Atlanta United. But it’s not like Sporting KC were having much success with the players they had.

Keep an eye on the KC Soccer Journal over the next week as the most exciting transfer window in club history continues.