photo courtesy of Jarred Donalson
The rumors have been around basically since the season ended. The fact that Omar Bravo had only played 5 minutes in Sporting KC's playoff run certainly did nothing to temper those rumors. In the offseason Bravo's been linked with every club in Guadalajara, from Chivas to cash strapped Tecos. He's also been linked with Club America, Veracruz, and other clubs. In the end though, it is Mexican City side, Cruz Azul that gets the services of the former Mexican international.
Bravo leaves Kansas City having played in 27 games this past season, starting all but one of them. In that time he scored 9 goals and 2 assists in league play. He added another 2 appearances in the US Open Cup and 1 MLS Cup playoff appearance to his total. He tied Teal Bunbury and Kei Kamara for the most goals this year.
Bravo's departure opens up not only a designated player spot, but also an international spot. That leaves KC with 6 of their 7 international slots currently filled. The designated player spot I 100% expect to be filled by the time that next season starts. I also wouldn't be surprised if there were 2 DPs on the field when KC take the field.
The move involved Sporting getting a fee from the Mexican club for Bravo's services. Although the official status of Bravo's move has not been published. It's possible that the move could be just a loan of some kind. Either way KC retains Bravo's MLS rights, but I doubt we'll see the Mexican back in MLS.
REENTRY DRAFT
In other Sporting KC news today, the second phase of the reentry draft took place today. Sporting KC was one of 14 teams that chose not to select anyone from the list of players available in the draft. On the other end of the draft, now former Sporting KC player, Shavar Thomas was not selected at all by any of the teams and is now a free agent able to sign to any team in the league.
Adiós Omar. You will be missed. But I always suspected he might have thought himself a bit out of place here. Just a hunch.
ReplyDeleteYou say 6 of the 7 international spots are currently filled. Who among this group is either not on the roster or doesn't use up an international roster spot?
ReplyDeleteNielson, Collin, Cesar, Cyrus, Olum, Joseph, Aiyegbusi
Just curious, thanks!
Vermes chases another player out of KC. When is that going to be discussed?
ReplyDeleteOlum has a green card.
ReplyDeleteWho else has he run out of town? Smith? Dude didn't want to be here, was only ready to play when it was game time, and if you can't practice you're not going to play. Auvray? He's really shown in New York that Vermes made a mistake with that one (rolleyes). Who else?
ReplyDelete