Sporting Kansas City announced Wednesday that the club has exercised contract options for the following players ahead of the 2017 MLS season: Saad Abdul-Salaam, Benji Joya, Jimmy Medranda, Lawrence Olum and Seth Sinovic.
In addition, the following players are now out of contract with Sporting Kansas City: Nuno Andre Coelho, Kevin Ellis, Alec Kann, Chance Myers, Paulo Nagamura and Jacob Peterson. The club will extend offers to Ellis and Kann and negotiations for those two players are ongoing. Myers, Peterson and Nagamura are eligible for MLS free agency, which begins at the conclusion of the MLS Expansion Draft on Dec. 13.
Sporting Kansas City will not exercise contract options for Ever Alvarado, Emmanuel Appiah, Connor Hallisey, Jon Kempin and Justin Mapp. Kempin is eligible to participate in Major League Soccer’s Re-Entry Draft, with Stage One set for Dec. 16 and Stage Two on Dec. 22. As a free agent, Mapp may enter the Re-Entry Draft or begin free agent negotiations with clubs after the MLS Expansion Draft.
Sporting Kansas City currently has 17 players under contract for next year: the five players whose options were picked up as well as players already under contract for 2017: Matt Besler, Dom Dwyer, Roger Espinoza, Benny Feilhaber, Tim Melia, Soni Mustivar, Ike Opara, Erik Palmer-Brown, Cameron Porter, Diego Rubio, Daniel Salloi and Graham Zusi.
For a full list of Sporting Kansas City’s offseason roster moves, visit SportingKC.com/tracker. The club will spend both phases of the 2016 preseason in Tucson, Arizona, first reporting from Jan. 22 — Feb 6 and then returning for the Desert Diamond Cup from Feb. 15-25.
Major League Soccer released its 2016-17 offseason calendar last month. The MLS Expansion Draft will take place at 1 p.m. CT on Dec. 13 as expansion clubs Atlanta United and Minnesota United FC add up to five players each on their inaugural rosters. The 2017 MLS SuperDraft will be held Jan. 13 at 2 p.m. CT at the LA Convention Center.
