Moving on from Manu Garcia Makes Sense for Sporting KC

On Monday, August 17, 2026, Sporting Kansas City agreed to mutually part ways with designated player, Manu Garcia. Sporting KC fans on all corners of the internet were critical of the move, wondering why the club was moving on from its most creative midfielder and not recouping a transfer fee. But then on August 25, 2026, Sporting Kansas City shocked the entire league by transferring Dejan Joveljic to the Seattle Sounders for $6 million. If the Garcia move was questionable, the Joveljic move was downright controversial and further angered an ailing fanbase.

Garcia joined Sporting prior to the start of the 2025 season, signing to play for Peter Vermes. After less than two seasons, it was time for both parties to move on. Sporting fans all over the internet panned the move and lamented the loss of the most creative midfielder on the team. But for anyone who listens to the Shades of Blue Soccer Show, you’ll know that there’s another side to the argument. Now, before I get into the reasons why it was good for Sporting to move on from Manu, I want to make things very clear – I am not a Manu Garcia hater. I think he’s a good player. I think he provides value to the roster for most teams in most leagues. I just don’t think he was good enough to be a Designated Player.

DPs Must be Elite

MLS is a salary capped league. You can either have two designated players and four U-22 players plus an additional $2 million in general allocation money (GAM), or you can have three designated players and three U-22 players. For a team to be successful, you have to hit on your designated players. For instance, in 2025, MLS Cup was won by Inter Miami led by Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba, and Sergio Busquets. Ok, so I might have just named the second-best player of all time and two Barcelona legends.

Eastern Conference leading Nashville SC is led by DP, Cristian Espinoza, who is tied for 2nd in MLS with 11 assists. Fourth place Chicago Fire had Hugo Cuypers who is tied for 6th in the Golden Boot race and he left MLS two months ago. Evander and his 11 assists have FC Cincinnati firmly in the playoff mix.

There is a litany of examples of these game changers putting their teams in position to hoist trophies. But as much as hitting on a DP can make a season, missing on a DP can cripple your chances to win. The 2026 Seattle Sounders are led by Albert Rusnak, Jordan Morris, and Pedro de la Vega. Rusnak is fine but unremarkable, Morris is underperforming and often injured, and de la Vega is out for the season. Seattle currently sits in 13th place in the Western Conference.

In all fairness to Manu, he wasn’t put on a team with an exceptional roster. Sporting was trying to rebuild in a new era before Vermes was dismissed in 2025. With a subpar roster and a hamstring injury that kept him out of seven games, Garcia was only able to finish with two goals and seven assists. Heading into 2026 with Raphael Wicky and a slapped together roster that was nowhere close to complete, Garcia scored two goals and contributed four assists. There’s certainly an argument to be made that Garcia would have been more prolific with better players around him. Realistically, Manu has never scored more than four goals in any season in any league. His best season for assists was eight with Sporting Gijon in La Liga 2 in 2019-2020. His second-best season? Last year for Sporting.

Designated Players must elevate the team around them. They have to possess such quality that the team succeeds due to their skill and talent.

Manu versus his Peers

Compare 2026 Manu to some of his peers: Evander, Cristian Espinoza, and Anders Dreyer. Garcia has a G+A per 90 of 0.43. He gets less than half a goal or assist per 90 minutes. Evander is currently on 13 goals and 11 assists for Cincinnati. His G+A per 90 is 1.21. That’s unreal and a big part of why Cincinnati is near the top of the table. Espinoza currently has three goals and 11 assists for a G+A per 90 of 0.88. Anders Dreyer has nine goals and 11 assists for San Diego FC for a G + A per 90 of 0.90.

And then look no further than Manu’s possible replacement in Owen Wolff. He arrived on a U22 Initiative deal that leaves Manu’s DP spot open and his production is remarkable. He’s missed time with injuries in 2026, but in 2025 he had seven goals and eight assists. His G+A per 90 was 0.52. Actually, better than Garcia!

While Manu had some quality and was undoubtedly the most creative midfielder on Sporting KC, he simply was not good enough to occupy a Designated Player spot for a roster that wants to contend for MLS Cup. Moving on from him allowed David Lee to open up Peter Mallouk’s checkbook and go hunting for a true game changer in the midfield, like NYCFC’s breakout star, Nicolas Fernandez (who David Lee signed before coming to Sporting Kansas City). We’re left waiting on an official replacement, but Wolff may serve in the meantime.

Dejan’s Wasted Potential

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Dejan Joveljic. In his first season with Sporting, Joveljic bagged 18 goals with two assists. Prior to his sale to Seattle, Deki had scored eight goals and gotten another three assists in 20 matches for SKC. That’s a G+A per 90 of 0.56. Only slightly better than Wolff’s 2025 numbers.

Joveljic is a proven goal scorer in the league and at his best is one of the most dangerous players in the league in the box. Like most players, Deki thrives with a strong team around him. With a full-strength Galaxy squad, he put in nearly a goal or assist every game. However, with a weak Sporting KC team over the last season and a half, Joveljic averaged just over half a goal or assist per 90. The team struggled to create chances for him, and he was notably frustrated throughout matches. Dejan Joveljic is every bit a proper Designated Player in MLS but his transfer to Seattle served a purpose.

While fans are rightfully upset, Sporting Kansas City must assess current needs against the timeline of their roster build. By selling Joveljic, Sporting was able to convert $3 million of the fee into GAM which can be distributed throughout the roster to help buy down costs against the salary cap. Since Sporting is nowhere close to being competitive right now, keeping Joveljic was only serving to waste his prime years while David Lee attempts to rebuild a competitive roster. With the influx of cash and a nearly unlimited checkbook, Lee can hunt for a new DP midfielder and striker while using the GAM to find expensive, talented players and keep SKC under the salary cap.

Regardless of whether these roster moves were correct or not, David Lee must get the next two DP signings right to see Sporting KC turn things around. The best teams in the league have difference makers taking up those roster spots. We’ve seen that money isn’t an issue for Peter Mallouk and Sporting has made attempts to build up their scouting and analytics departments. As attendance has waned during the last few years, superstar players are needed to win points and put people in seats.