Sporting KC used the four hour trade window today to the full extent that they could. With the MLS season over and protection lists due to the league today, there was a short trade window opened for teams to make moves. Sporting KC turned out to be one of the busier teams with reports of the team being involved in three trades.
All three of these trades I like, Collin wasn't going to be staying, Sapong needed a new start, and Anor can be a good signing for depth this coming year. Plenty more moves will be coming for KC, they still need to address the goalkeeping situation and need to add depth in places. They also need a winger who can give KC more speed and goals.
On their way out of KC are two fan favorites, Aurelien Collin and CJ Sapong. Collin, who is out of contract, is headed to Orlando City. In report, OCSC is sending allocation money and "future considerations." This is certainly a tough one for fans to swallow; Collin has been a consistent in back for Sporting KC for the last four years. He's been a threat on set pieces and was the 2013 MLS Cup MVP, scoring a goal and the winning PK in the penalty shootout. But with him out of contract and Matt Besler signing a designated player contract, Collin was looking for a pay bump. There was talk of wanting a max salary or even a DP contract. For me, while Collin's been a very good player for KC, tying up that much cap space in a salary cap league on your two center backs would be a foolish endeavor when there are other needs on the field. Collin has apparently signed a new deal with
The future considerations could be a number of things. A couple thoughts could be a hand shake agreement that Orlando won't take any of KC's players in the expansion draft tomorrow. Or it could be an agreement between the two to have Orlando grab one of KC's players and in turn immediately send him back to KC (as the future considerations). Or it could be an agreement for another trade after the expansion draft.
Sapong had a great first two years in KC, winning rookie of the year in 2011 and scoring nine league goals in 2012, but from there things went downhill. The slide really coincided with Sapong's more permanent move from playing more centrally to the wing. Peter Vermes seemed intent on making Sapong into the second coming of Kei Kamara. Sapong still ended up being a more serviceable winger than a number of other players that have come through KC in his time here. But like Teal Bunbury, a change of scenery would do him good. And Sapong played for Philadelphia's PDL affiliate, Reading United in college.
The rumor that the Sapong trade would involve Zac MacMath heading to KC appear to not be true though. On the other hand, KC looks like they'll be getting a first round pick in the 2015 Superdraft in return for Sapong. The pick, Philadelphia's only pick in the first round, is the 10th overall. It'd give KC three picks in the first round, the 10th, their natural 12th, and the 20th, which they got from New England in exchange for Bunbury.
The final trade saw Sporting KC acquire Venezuelan midfielder, Bernardo Anor from the Columbus Crew for allocation money. Anor played 71 league games over the last four years for the Columbus Crew, scoring 12 goals. His most successful season was this year where he played in 27 games, starting 18 and scored six goals. He'll give KC another presence on the wing.
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