Ozzie Cisneros Goes Out on Loan; A look at Sporting KC’s Loan History

Sporting Kansas City Homegrown signing, Ozzie Cisneros, is heading to a new home. At least temporarily. The club announced on Tuesday that the sometimes midfielder, sometimes forward, would spend the remainder of the MLS Next Pro season on loan with expansion side Carolina Core FC.

Cisneros came to Kansas City by way of Omaha, Nebraska. He’s played in the SKC Academy from the U-13 through the U-19 levels, including call ups for the U-15 United States Youth National Team.

Ozzie signed as a Homegrown to the first team back in 2021 at just 16-years-old. He just turned 20 but has yet to appear in an MLS game. He did make a first team appearance in the old version of the Leagues Cup in 2021 against Leon (Liga MX) and in the 2022 US Open Cup against FC Dallas.

Cisneros has actually gone back to the SKC Academy U-19s at times and has featured extensively for SKC II. He has 52 appearances and has scored five times with the second team.

A loan to a fellow MLS Next PRO team could be just the chance Ozzie needs. While he moved away from Nebraska at a young age, this will put him even further out of his comfort zone. It could be a chance to mature and breakthrough away from home. And it could be his last chance in the competitive world of first division American soccer. At least with Sporting KC. The team holds a 2025 option, but they can move on from his contract after this season.

What Does it Mean for Sporting KC?

With a season long loan, Sporting KC will free up a roster spot. However, Cisneros isn’t on the Senior Roster, so this doesn’t mean they can go out and make a big signing to replace Ozzie. Instead, it just adds another spot towards the bottom of the roster where spending is limited. It’s unclear if SKC will fill his spot or wait to see how Ozzie does, as they retain the ability to recall him from his loan if he breaks through.

SKC’s History of Loaned Out Players

This isn’t the first time Sporting KC have sent players out on loan. Of course, they loan players to Sporting KC II, formerly the Swope Park Rangers, all the time. That’s so commonplace, we’ll skip it for this exercise. Instead, let’s look at their loans to teams outside of their direct control.

• 2013: Dom Dwyer, Jon Kempin, Christian Duke, Kevin Ellis, CJ Sapong and Yann Songo’o – Orlando City (USL)
• 2014: Mikey Lopez – Orlando City (USL)
• 2014: Duke, Lopez and Jimmy Medranda – OKC Energy (USL)
• 2015: Lopez – OKC Energy
• 2015: Saad Abdul Salaam, Jon Kempin – San Antonio Scorpions (NASL)
• 2016: Daniel Salloi – Gyirmót (Hungary – 2nd division)
• 2016: Erik Palmer-Brown (Porto B – Portugal)
• 2019: Eric Dick – Tulsa Roughnecks (USL)
• 2020: Dick – Phoenix Rising (USL)
• 2021: Tyler Freeman – Karlsruher (Germany – 2.Bundesliga)

Looking at the list above and you can see varying levels of success for players who have gone out on loan. Dom Dwyer became the second leading goal scorer in Sporting KC history and eventually was sold to Orlando City for a massive deal. Daniel Salloi is well on his way to breaking Dwyer’s mark. EPB has broken out since leaving and unfortunately some bad luck led to a lack of a transfer fee.

Then there is a smattering of first team contributors in CJ Sapong, Jimmy Medranda and others. Of course, there are some others that left the team when their loan was over. Cisneros will have a say in his next steps and a huge part of that will be how he does with Carolina Core.

*This story originally was missing EPB.

Who are Carolina Core FC?

Carolina Core FC are an independent MLS Next PRO club that does simply take players on loan from an MLS club to primarily fill their roster. To learn more about Carolina, check out the mini documentary put out by the league.