Sporting Kansas City announced today that the club has acquired 25-year-old midfielder Gadi Kinda on loan from Israeli side Beitar Jerusalem. He arrives in Kansas City after starring as one of the Israeli Premier League’s best players during the first half of the 2019-20 season.
Manager and Sporting Director Peter Vermes shares his remarks about Kinda (pronounced GAH-dee KINN-dah) and the upcoming season in the space below.
On Gadi Kinda’s qualities as a player…
He is a No. 8 in the central midfield who plays both ways, for sure. He’s got a really good engine. His defensive responsibilities are very well engrained in him, and he has some good attacking tendencies to get into the box. I expect him to fit in well to the way that we play, and we look forward to him joining the team.
On Kinda’s versatility in the midfield…
He’s good in the final third, but he also has the engine to play box to box. That’s something that we wanted to add into the midfield, and we’re happy we were able to do it now so that he can join us for preseason. Sometimes it can be difficult if you add a guy too late and he misses all that time in the preseason—the fitness and the acclimation to the model of play, but more importantly the bonding with teammates. The fact that he can join us now is a real positive.
On strengthening the team in all areas of the field…
It was a target of ours and now we’ve done that. I’m very happy that we were able to solidify all of those positions. The Player Personnel Department did its job to help us get stronger in all areas, and hopefully we’re going to see that in our play this year.
On being able to play a variety of styles with added depth…
We have options now on all of the lines. The ability to do other things in the flow of the game is big for upcoming opponents, because our league has changed. With so many teams joining the league, there are a lot of different influences of coaches now—not just from the United States but from all over the world. With all of the different styles of play, we’re going to have to be adaptable to some of those situations at times. It’s exciting not only for the players, but for the coaching staff, too. We’re going to get tested, as well.
