Espinoza to Leave Wigan, Return to US

Word out of the United Kingdom today is that Wigan Athletic midfielder, Roger Espinoza will be leaving the club and returning to the United States. Espinoza's return to the US would give all the indications that he will be re-signing with Sporting KC since Sporting still hold his MLS rights.

There had been rumors of Espinoza's return to KC since October, but at the time, Sporting head coach, Peter Vermes said that he would not be willing to pay a transfer fee for the Honduran. The reason for this had to do with the fact that Espinoza would be out of contract at the English club anyway. The release though would allow him to return to KC on a free transfer.

So far, none of the reports have explicitly said that he's returning to Sporting KC, but with Wigan head coach, Malky Mackay saying "There is an agreement that the club have shaken hands with Roger on to allow him to go back to America," and Kansas City's prior interest in bringing him back, it'd be shocking if he returned to anywhere but Sporting.

Over the course of five seasons with Sporting during his first stay with the club, Espinoza appeared in 113 league games, starting 93 of them, and appeared in 130 in all competitions scoring two goals. Since leaving for the Premier League after the 2012 season though, Espinoza has appeared just 57 times for the Latics across all competitions.

His return to Kansas City would be welcome in the midfield, where Espinoza could slot in back in his old box to box role that he really made his own over his last two seasons in KC. That could lead to KC's midfield being a bit more dynamic if the team plays Paulo Nagamura and Benny Feilhaber with him. With none of the three being defensive midfielders in the role of Oriol Rosell or Lawrence Olum, it could mean that any of the three could go forward into the attack, which could cause other match up issues.