Sporting KC
Sporting KC Trade for Defender Justin Reynolds
Sporting Kansas City trade for a 21-year-old right back to bolster their roster heading into the 2026 season.
Our long national nightmare is over! Sporting Kansas City have made a roster move ahead of the 2026 Major League Soccer Season.
On Tuesday, Sporting KC announced they had traded for Justin Reynolds from the Chicago Fire. They acquired him for a 2028 third round SuperDraft pick and up to $100,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) based on performance. Chicago also retained a sell-on percentage if Sporting KC were to transfer Reynolds.
While Reynolds was on the Fire’s first team roster, the vast majority of the 21-year-old right backs professional appearances are in MLS Next Pro. He has 62 appearances for the Chicago Fire II and another 14 for the first team. He also spent time with Swiss club FC Lugano on loan in 2024 making a single appearance. He also has spent time with the USA U-15s and U19s.
With the addition of Justin Reynolds, Sporting KC’s roster climbs to 17 players under contract. He is signed through the 2026 season. He made $104,000 last season in Chicago.
Sporting KC Roster Fit
Reynolds is only the 3rd defender listed on Sporting KC’s roster and the first fullback. However, two of the midfielders, Jake Davis and Zorhan Bassong, have both played minutes at outside back. That said, based on the lack of currently signed players, Reynolds has a pretty clear path to playing time at right back.
In the behind the scenes look from the Chicago Fire (bottom of page), you can definitely see Reynolds playing left back as well.
There are obviously plenty of additions still to come, not to mention a coach. Sporting KC are set to report for preseason January 10th, in just 11 days. While they only have 17 players, and surely more to come, plenty of SKC II and SKC Academy players are likely to join for preseason. Plus, we’d imagine more players on trial than usual.
More on Rumored Sporting KC Coaching Candidate Raphael Wicky
Stick with the KC Soccer Journal for all your Sporting KC needs as the offseason comes to an end, and 2026 preseason kicks off. There are six preseason games where we should learn a lot more about this team over the next couple months.
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Hey, it’s a signing at a needed position. Hopefully the momentum picks up now. I’m anxious to see the club build up.
It is still concerning no Manager has been announced, but it is good to hear of signings occurring. I am also appreciative of the rumors as well. Hopefully David Lee has some big things to announce at the new year.
I’m with you there. Pre-season is going to be an interesting one. Probably not in a good way.
I own zero clubs, so there are things I just don’t understand about the process. But I would really appreciate a statement from the club (once a week/every other week) to let me know they are in the process. A simple status update would suffice. At least for me.
Ya the communication side of things is weak. But it is difficult, like you said, we don’t own any team. Looking through reddit at MLS discussion it seems like there is a lot of announcements but (just a guess) there are only about 8 -10 teams that have really made many big announcements. I tend to forget how large our league is. 30 teams is a ton. It feels like we aren’t doing much (maybe that is the case) but it seems that the majority of teams are operating in the same way.
I also follow St. Louis City SC. The best announcement they made is a manager one… which is good for them but outside of that they have made no real announcement on players or trades. They seem to be in a similar boat as SKC.
This is the joy of being a sports fan.
I do appreciate your comment about updates. This why I do in enjoy kcsoccerjournal and their podcasts. They really are on top of the news with the team and trying to get that out in front of the fans ASAP. Thank you to them.
looking forward to whatever this team puts out. Here’s to 2026.
Thanks for the positive comments!
I think in general, y’all nailed it. 30 teams is a ton and it feels like a lot is happening.
To defend the anxious people… SKC have a ton of work to do, are the only team without an announced coach and the additions they have made are depth/fringe pieces.
Next week should be big. I’m going to be travelling a lot, so we’ll see how their announcements fit into my schedule
What are the odds that SKC tries to sign an end of career European player. As much as I don’t like that for the league, it would be hard to ignore the impact that has on a club. It would make a big splash and possibly generate a bit of revenue.
Did this CSO have any part of signing Pirlo and David-Villa to NYCFC?