Live Thread: Sporting KC Deadline Day News

Sporting Kansas City entered Major League Soccer’s transfer deadline day with a lot of work to do and very little time to do it in. The transfer window closes at 1:00AM EST (midnight CST). The moves don’t have to be announced by then, but the paperwork has to be in.

Coming into the transfer window, there were some very high hopes. There were rumors of $20 million+ transfer fees and talks of a $50 to 60 million window. Notably for Andre Luiz (who has arrived) and Yann Gboho. The also got the Owen Wolff transfer across the line.

There was also that Mo Salah rumor and smaller rumors for guys like the Swedish striker Paulos Abraham. There was a record offer for Nico Fernandez Mercau to be purchased from NYCFC. Salah went to Turkiye. Gboho is still in play. And Abraham sounds like a dead deal since Hammarby couldn’t replace him in time.

The other side of the whole equation were all the outgoing moves. Dejan Joveljic was stunningly transferred in conference to the Seattle Sounders and Manu Garcia had his deal mutually terminated so he could return to Aris in Greece. In smaller moves, Cielo Tschantret and Ethan Bartlow went out on loan.

Below is a beat-by-beat accounting of deadline day. Keep coming back, we’ll update throughout the day.

4:19AM – French outlet, Les Violets says that Yann Gboho will not play tonight for Toulouse and “a move to Kansas City is imminent.” They also add that MLS wasn’t his preferred destination, but it backed up reporting from yesterday a deal had been reached between the two clubs and the player on personal terms.

7:42AM – KCSJ’s Mike Kuhn out sleuthing early. Yesterday, it looked like Lyon were going to jump in and ruin the Yann Gboho deal. Early reporting was they used up their “Joker rule” signing on Nakamura and couldn’t sign Gboho.

Later in the day Santi Aouna, the journalist who had been reporting on Gboho, replied to Mike seemingly confirming that news.

More on the Joker Rule:

Rumor: Verbal Agreement for Sporting KC to Sign Yann Gboho Reached

7:45AM – Sporting Kansas City’s majority owner, Peter Mallouk, gives a little hope, saying that he’s “doing all I can as fast as we can.”

8:42AM – Yann Gboho “is now expected to head to the United States to join Sporting Kansas City, a club reportedly offering between €16 million and €17 million for his services.”

Les Violets, which might be the Toulouse KC Soccer Journal, keep reporting positive news but no one else is chiming in.

9:02AM – Sporting KC’s rivals make another move. They add midfielder Charles-Emile Brunet on loan for the rest of the year from Nashville SC. Look at those glorious locks!

9:48AM – Mike’s digging continues. Lyon are out on Yann Gboho according to French journalist, Hugo Guillemet.

10:44AM – Another source that Lyon are out because they used their “Joker” signing on Keito Nakamura.

~Noon-ish – Gboho deal off?

Tom Bogert out here breaking Kansas City fan’s hearts on a live Soccerwise podcast. Bogert said, “I keep on checking in on it and of course things can move but the last I heard as of an hour ago, Yann Gboho, that deal’s not on.”

Not on?!?! Dispair!

2:29PM – St. Louis announce the Damion Downs deal. That’s three transfers in the last few days, including a club record deal for Colorado Rapids striker Rapha Navarro.

2:48PM – Doom spiral. With Folarin Balogun nixing his deal with Chelsea yesterday, people started (jokingly) asking if Sporting KC should sign him.

3:30PM – We’ve shifted our focus to the NBA. Record fines for Steve Ballmer and the LA Clippers for the Kawhi Leonard cap circumvention scheme. Should the KC Soccer Journal just be an NBA site? It would help if Kansas City had a team. And “soccer” wasn’t in our site title.