Sporting Kansas City announced today several roster moves ahead of the 2023 MLS season.
Sporting has exercised contract options for midfielder Cam Duke, defender Kortne Ford and goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh. The club has declined contract options for defenders Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, Kaveh Rad and Graham Zusi.
Sporting is currently in discussions to retain Zusi, midfielder Roger Espinoza and defender Andreu Fontas, all of whom are out of contract with the club.
Additionally, Sporting has signed midfielder Felipe Hernandez, forward Khiry Shelton and goalkeeper Tim Melia to new MLS contracts. Hernandez and Shelton have signed through 2025 with options for 2026, while Melia has signed through 2024.
The following 17 players entered 2023 with guaranteed contracts at Sporting Kansas City: Willy Agada, Ozzie Cisneros, Jake Davis, Gadi Kinda, Logan Ndenbe, Kayden Pierre, Alan Pulido, John Pulskamp, Nemanja Radoja, Uri Rosell, Johnny Russell, Daniel Salloi, Ben Sweat, Erik Thommy, Marinos Tzionis, Robert Voloder and Remi Walter.
Following today’s announcement, Sporting now has 23 players under contract for the 2023 MLS season:
- Goalkeepers (3): Kendall McIntosh, Tim Melia, John Pulskamp
- Defenders (5): Kortne Ford, Logan Ndenbe, Kayden Pierre, Ben Sweat, Robert Voloder
- Midfielders (9): Ozzie Cisneros, Jake Davis, Cam Duke, Felipe Hernandez, Gadi Kinda, Nemanja Radoja, Uri Rosell, Erik Thommy, Remi Walter
- Forwards (6): Willy Agada, Alan Pulido, Johnny Russell, Daniel Salloi, Khiry Shelton, Marinos Tzionis
Sporting’s roster will continue to take shape in the buildup to the 2023 MLS campaign, which will kick off the final weekend of February. For a full list of the team’s offseason roster moves, visit SportingKC.com/news/tracker. The calendar of Major League Soccer’s remaining offseason roster-building events is listed below.
MLS Offseason Roster Mechanisms:
- Wednesday, Nov. 16: Free Agency opens (12 p.m. CT)
- Thursday, Nov. 17: Re-Entry Draft, Stage 1 (12 p.m. CT)
- Thursday, Nov. 17: End-of-Year Waivers (4 p.m. CT)
- Tuesday, Nov. 22: Re-Entry Draft, Stage 2 (12 p.m. CT)
- Wednesday, Dec. 21: MLS SuperDraft (time TBD)
Sporting Kansas City II also announced its roster moves today in preparation for the 2023 MLS NEXT Pro campaign. The club has exercised contract options for Bakary Bagayoko, Ethan Bandre, Josh Coan and Mikey Lenis. Additionally, Aljaz Dzankic, Coby Jones and Jahon Rad entered 2023 under guaranteed contracts.
Sporting KC II has declined contract options for 10 players: Paul Atta Agyei, Kian Alberto, T.J. Fatah, Collin Fernandez, Josip Hmura, Cole McLagan, Rauf Salifu, Joseph Addo Tetteh, Cade Thomson and Julian Vazquez. Spencer Glass is out of contract with the club.
Sporting KC II is currently in discussions with Esai Easley and Curtez Kellman, both of whom competed for the club in 2022.
Seven players are currently under MLS NEXT Pro contracts with SKC II entering next season, the four players whose contract options were exercised plus the three players whose contracts were guaranteed for 2023.
- Goalkeepers (1): Ethan Bandre
- Defenders (4): Aljaz Dzankic, Coby Jones, Mikey Lenis, Jahon Rad
- Forwards (2): Bakary Bagayoko, Josh Coan
The following nine players competed for Sporting KC II on amateur academy contracts in 2022 and remain age-eligible to play in the Sporting KC Academy: Braxton Arpachinda, Edgar Bazan, Nati Clarke, Matthew Fisher, Matthew Hudson, Guy Michaeli, Nico Pendleton, Ryan Reid and Carlito Saylon.
Draven Barnett and Jayvin Van Deventer were also on amateur academy contracts in 2022 and have left the club to pursue their college soccer careers at Temple University and Northwestern University, respectively.
