Sporting Kansas City II announced today that the club has signed 23-year-old goalkeeper Ethan Bandre to an MLS NEXT Pro professional contract and acquired 19-year-old forward Paul Atta Agyei on loan from Ghanaian Premier League side Berekum Chelsea FC with an option to buy the player at the end of 2022.Â
Sporting Kansas City II will welcome Bandre and Agyei ahead of the club’s 2022 campaign in MLS NEXT Pro, a new professional league that will kick off in late March. First-year head coach Benny Feilhaber and assistant coach Ike Opara, standout players for Sporting last decade, will lead Sporting KC II for the club’s seventh season since launching in 2016.
The additions of Bandre and Agyei give Sporting KC II a current total of 11 players under professional contract heading into the MLS NEXT Pro season.
Current Sporting KC II Roster
- Goalkeepers (1): Ethan Bandre
- Defenders (3):Â Aljaz Dzankic, Spencer Glass, Joseph Addo Tetteh
- Midfielders (2):Â Collin Fernandez, Jahon Rad
- Forwards (5):Â Paul Atta Agyei, Bakary Bagayoko, Josh Coan, Rauf Salifu, Julian VazquezÂ
Born and raised in Salina, Kansas, Bandre played five seasons of college soccer with stints at the University of the Pacific (2017-2019) in Stockton, California, and Northwestern University (2020-2021) in Evanston, Illinois.
At Pacific, Bandre redshirted in 2017 before helping the Tigers a 2018 NCAA Tournament appearance and posting a shutout in a 1-0 first-round win over UC Riverside. He became a regular starter in 2019, totaling 15 appearances as a West Coast Conference All-Academic First Team selection. Bandre started eight of 10 appearances across two seasons at Northwestern, totaling 26 saves in over 700 minutes of action.
Bandre attended Salina South High School and notably won the 5A state championship in 2015. He was a three-time KSHSSA First-Team All-State honoree as well as a two-time Kansas State Goalkeeper of the Year.
Agyei, a versatile forward who can play on the left or right wing, has spent the entirety of his young professional career with Berekum Chelsea. He has scored seven goals over the last season and a half in the Ghanaian Premier League.
Agyei, who joins Sporting KC II for a preseason training camp in Indianapolis, is the third Ghanian Premier League player to sign for the team on loan this month. Accra Lions FC duo Joseph Addo Tetteh and Rauf Salifu have also ventured stateside, with Salifu spending the last several days competing with Sporting’s first team in Arizona.
Transaction: Sporting Kansas City II (MLS NEXT Pro) acquires forward Paul Atta Agyei on loan from Berekum Chelsea FC (Ghana) and signs goalkeeper Ethan Bandre.
VITALS
Ethan Bandre (BAN-dree)
Position: Goalkeeper
Born: 9/14/1998 (23 years old)
Height: 6-2
Weight: 185 lbs.
Hometown: Salina, Kansas
Birthplace: Salina, Kansas
College: Northwestern University, University of the Pacific
Citizenship: USAÂ
Paul Atta Agyei (ah-GEE-yee)
Position: Forward
Born: 9/30/2002 (19 years old)
Height: 5-11
Weight: 165 lbs.
Hometown: Berekum, Ghana
Birthplace: Berekum, Ghana
Previous Club: Berekum Chelsea FC (Ghana)
Citizenship: Ghana
