Rumored Sporting KC $20 Million Target Goes to the Premier League

To say the Sporting Kansas City transfer window didn’t go as most folks hoped, would be an understatement. After the departures of both of Sporting KC’s Designated Players entering the season, Dejan Joveljic and Manu Garcia, many of us assumed a big DP signing was lined up.

The main target that had been leaked to the press was Ivory Coast winger, Yann Gboho. As David Lee said in his press conference on Thursday, everything leaked isn’t always what it seems (I’m paraphrasing, those weren’t his exact words). Maybe Sporting KC were interested in Gboho. Maybe they weren’t.

But reports of a verbal agreement being reached and the player and teams coming to terms was seemingly not accurate. The part that was accurate was that Yann Gboho wouldn’t play for Toulouse again and he may have fact been on a plane. But it wasn’t to the United States. Instead, it was to England.

Announced this morning but agreed to at least all the way back on September 1st, Gboho will join recently promoted EPL side Coventry City. A player in his prime choosing the Premier League over Major League Soccer isn’t a surprise. Even if Coventry is only up for a year, it’s a chance to gain exposure in the biggest and best league in the world. Maybe he spends next year in the English Championship if it doesn’t work out. Maybe he finds another new home and a bigger fee if he plays well. Heck, maybe he helps keeps Coventry up.

It’s a new world that Sporting KC are shopping in. Whether they were ever in on Gboho or not, when fees climb to the rumored $20 million valuation Toulouse had on him, those players are unlikely to have their first choice be MLS. Without starting a debate about the best leagues in the world, the top five are almost certainly seen as England, Spain, Germany, France and Italy. Everyone else is fighting for sixth place right now and MLS is probably somewhere in the Top 10.

It would be easier for an MLS team to make 10, $2 million signings than one $20 million move. But MLS roster rules simply don’t allow that. A flaw that will hopefully be fixed with a new commissioner taking over and a desire to push MLS into a new era. There was a rumored presentation with one possible solution made to MLS owners a month ago. Until those rules change, it’s always likely guys with $20 million plus transfer fees will have options ahead of MLS. Sporting KC and everyone else will be no better than a second or third choice, but perhaps much lower.

The KC Soccer Journal will bring you much more from the fall out of this transfer window in the coming days and weeks.