Sporting Kansas City announced today that the club has exercised contract options on the following five players ahead of the 2020 MLS season: goalkeeper Eric Dick, defender Graham Smith and forwards Gerso Fernandes, Erik Hurtado and Daniel Salloi.
Sporting has declined contract options for defender Seth Sinovic and midfielders Benny Feilhaber and Gedion Zelalem. Forward Krisztian Nemeth and defenders Nico Hasler and Rodney Wallace are also out of contract with the club.
Feilhaber, Sinovic and Wallace are eligible for Free Agency, which begins Monday at 2 p.m. CT, and for the MLS Re-Entry Draft, with Stage 1 set for Nov. 26 and Stage 2 on Dec. 3. Nemeth is also eligible for the Re-Entry process, while Hasler and Zelalem are eligible for the End-of-Year Waivers process on Monday at 2 p.m. CT.
Sporting now has 21 players under contract for the 2020 season: the five players whose contract options were exercised plus the 16 players already under contract for 2020. For a full list of Sporting’s offseason roster moves, visit SportingKC.com/tracker.
Sporting KC players under contract in 2020
- Goalkeepers (2): Eric Dick, Tim Melia
- Defenders (7): Botond Barath, Matt Besler, Andreu Fontas, Jaylin Lindsey, Luis Martins, Graham Smith, Graham Zusi
- Midfielders (7): Gianluca Busio, Cameron Duke, Roger Espinoza, Felipe Gutierrez, Felipe Hernandez, Ilie Sanchez, Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal
- Forwards (5): Gerso Fernandes, Tyler Freeman, Erik Hurtado, Johnny Russell, Daniel Salloi
Led by Manager and Sporting Director Peter Vermes, Sporting will spend the entirety of its preseason training camp in Arizona for the sixth straight year. The club will train in Scottsdale from Jan. 19 to Feb. 1 and from Feb. 8-22 before kicking off its 25th season in Major League Soccer on Feb. 29 or March 1.
