Is the Sporting KC Roster Improved as David Lee Says?

“I think we end the window with an improved team overall than we had when we entered the window.” President of Soccer Operations and General Manager, David Lee, dropped that line in his post-transfer window press conference.

On the surface, it seems shocking.

This team lost its two most expensive, and many would argue best, players during the transfer window. Manu Garcia had his contract mutually terminated and ended up back in Greece with Aris. And Dejan Joveljic was unceremoniously transferred to intra-conference rivals, the Seattle Sounders.

But if you look at little closer, perhaps there is something to Lee’s statement.

Sporting KC’s Transfer Plans and Why Dejan and Manu are Gone

Arrivals versus Departures in the Summer

Dejan and Manu are gone, but they aren’t alone. Sporting KC sent out a few players on loan this year, but those were mostly backups without a ton of minutes. Ethan Bartlow has the most minutes (790) and is off to the Tampa Bay Rowdies the rest of the year. Ceilo Tschantret had 50 minutes before heading to Lexington SC for the remainder of the season and Ryan Schewe, the third-string keeper, has never played in an MLS game but made quite a debut in net for Louisville City.

The arrivals column definitely has more names in it. There are a few that arrived in season that won’t go on this list since that’s not what Lee was claiming. Guys like Capita, Lasse Berg Johnsen, Taylor Calheira and Diego Borges. The first three are really contributing.

But what about the summer signings? Or Blorian was signed early but just arrived in the summer. He was joined on the backline by Moises Mosquera and Emir Karic. The big moves were the record Designated Player signing of Andre Luiz and record U22 Initiative signing Owen Wolff.

The team also added a couple attackers on loan in Seymour Reid (NYCFC) and Ruben Ramos Jr (LA Galaxy).

Looking at raw numbers, that’s five players out and seven players in. S. Reid already has 29 minutes, and he arrived the day before his first game, so that seems destined to improve. Who knows if Ramos will play, but it seems the players added are likely to be much more involved than most of the guys sent out.

Moving on from Manu Garcia Makes Sense for Sporting KC

Incoming Spending

“Money isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” — The Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase

Statistically speaking, spending on transfer fees doesn’t have an amazing correlation to success. It’s really more about salaries. However, many of the salaries of the new players that arrived, we don’t know yet.

Spending on transfer fees is still a sign of ambition, if nothing else. And Sporting KC have absolutely spent money on players during this summer window. It’s the most money ever spent and the most players ever signed in a summer window. We’ll see if it translates into wins beyond the stunner this weekend against LAFC.

Here is a look at the spending on incoming players since the season started, with figures mostly from Transfermarkt. They aren’t perfect, but they give us an idea.

Over half of that comes from Andre Luiz alone. If Tom Bogert is right, and Lee has hinted he is; they could continue to shatter records on their next two Designated Player signings and possibly another U22 signing. But those players aren’t here yet and we’re just judging this window.

Ultimately, we’d be better off with the original quote instead of the one that is being manipulated above. “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing,” by former UCLA football coach, Red Sanders. The team needs to turn these moves into wins.

Is the Defense Better?

Yes. A little bit at least. We have a story on the KC Soccer Journal about it. Read it!

Is the Sporting KC Defense Getting Better?

The Dejan Joveljic of it All

Manu Garcia left, and some people were definitely upset. But we at the KC Soccer Journal have made the case that he might not be a good fit and that Owen Wolff could out produce him. In 2025, when both players were healthy, Manu had two goals and nine assists in 2,096 minutes while making $2,325,313 and occupying a DP spot. Owen Wolff made $221,600 and will now occupy a far less valuable U22 spot. His 2025 contributions? Seven goals and eight assists in 2,596 minutes on a pretty bad team. Freeing up a DP spot and getting a quality replacement is a big win.

The real issue is Dejan, right? He was probably the most efficient goal scorer in the history of the club. He was sold and not replaced. If he was still here, or they get a player with a profile they like more across the line, most people are probably fine with the summer window.

But he’s not. Taylor Calheira has outscored him since his arrival in Seattle, for what it’s worth. No one is saying Calheira is as clinical as Dejan, but maybe that Designated Player spot would be better spent elsewhere.

Ultimately, everyone is just pretty upset that two DPs left and there wasn’t a direct replacement in the wings. 2026 is a lost season. If Lee can get business done in the winter, it’ll give folks a reason to be excited come 2027.

Back to the original question though. Is the roster better? It seems plausible that it actually is. Maybe not at the very, very top, but across the board there are a lot of new key pieces in place.