Arnaud, Sinovic, and Nielsen

photo courtesy Jarred Donalson

Sporting KC was busy today, making one trade, another player announcement, and talk of a second trade taking place. It started during the weekend with a Tweet by Robb Heineman stating that there would be an announcement today. At 1:30 we got the first of the announcements, a surprising trade.

Sporting KC sent team captain, and longest tenured player, Davy Arnaud to the Montreal Impact for Seth Sinovic, who the Impact had selected in the expansion draft last week and allocation money. Arnaud, the club leader in league appearances heads to only his second professional club. Honestly this is a good move for both sides. KC bring back a local kid who had become a solid starter for KC this past season. On top of that they get allocation money from the expansion Impact. The Impact on the other hand get a veteran presence in the midfield and potential captain to help coach Jesse Marsch lead the side. I've said previously that I thought Arnaud would be the type of player that Marsch would want. KC protected Arnaud in the draft, Montreal took another left back in Sinovic, and the two were able to work out a deal.

It sucks because KC loses one of the faces of the franchise, a guy that had typified what seemed to be a blue collar feel around the team. Arnaud is the favorite of many players on KC and combined with losing Jimmy Conrad and Josh Wolff last year in the re-entry draft, and Jack Jewsbury via trade and many of the players that people personified with the old Kansas City Wizards are now gone. The team's longest tenured player is now back up goalkeeper, Eric Kronberg followed by Michael Harrington.

Still in the end, I really think both teams made out really well in this trade with KC continuing to get younger and Montreal getting a veteran leader.

In other news today, Sporting KC announced that they have reached a contract extension with goalkeeper, Jimmy Nielsen. Nielsen has signed a contract extension through the end of the 2013 season, with an option for the 2014 season. I like this move in some ways and not in others. I think Nielsen can still be a top level keeper in this league for a few more years, but would have also liked to see KC start to hand the reigns over to Kronberg, who I think can start in this league. Kronberg will be 30 by the time the option on the contract comes up. And while that's young in goalkeeper years, Kronberg may not look to stick around that long.

During the announcement regarding the trade, Peter Vermes mentioned that the team was looking to make another trade that would help to make the Arnaud trade more focused. To me that would seem to point to KC picking up a midfielder, but we'll have to wait and see until KC makes the announcement for us to know who KC picked up and what they gave up.