This is a guest post Drew VanderploegHost of the Home and Away Podcast.
MLS secondary transfer period begins on July 18th. For Sporting Kansas City fans, this is a great time to not only get some relief from a tough season, but also some positive prospects for the future. Sporting KC has hired a new sporting director who has promised increased investment from ownership and an overhaul of the roster going forward. This will be the club's first opportunity to make a move in this regard. So what can Sporting KC accomplish this summer? What is realistic and what can we learn from public comments by both Peter Vermes and Mike Barnes about what they are looking for? My hope is to provide some potential answers to these questions so that it won't be too much of a surprise if SKC signs a player this summer.
Earlier this year, I wrote an article sharing and explaining in detail the spreadsheet I created to understand SKC's salary cap situation. MLS roster rules are so complicated, with so many gray areas, that if I tried to cover everything in this article, it would read like a George R.R. Martin novel. I know this will only interest a small percentage of fans, so I've kept this article low-density. As such, I'll avoid many of the details of how I came to these conclusions and ask you to trust the fact that I did the work behind the scenes.
First, let's talk about what type of player SKC is targeting. Peter Vermes has publicly stated that he is targeting an attacking midfielder (often colloquially referred to as a #10), but in an interview with KC Star's Sam McDowell, he cited defensive improvement as an overall priority for the team. He cited needs in central defense and central midfield, profiling two players in particular in his TAM range, one he is targeting this summer and one in the winter.
A TAM player is a player whose salary cap bill is above the maximum but below the designated player threshold (between $683,750 and $1,683,750). Mike Illig, in a previous interview with KC Star's Sam McDowell, emphasized that the winger and center-back positions are a focus this summer, while Mike Barnes spoke about adding “players” in a recent press conference. Given that all but one player on SKC's current roster (Alan Pulido) is below the designated player threshold, we can see that there could be some significant quality in this acquisition. That said, we probably shouldn't expect multiple significant signings this summer.
With all the recent statements about the significant new four-year budget the owners have approved to invest in the roster and technical staff, one might wonder why there has been no discussion of bigger changes. Much of this is due to the aforementioned complicated roster rules, which Mike Barnes alluded to in his introductory press conference. Frankly, SKC doesn't have a lot of flexibility to make roster changes this summer. They have two openings on their senior roster, but only limited allocated funds available to comply with the cap after signing players.
You may have heard that SKC has the flexibility to add a Designated Player (DP). While that is true, it's unlikely they would make that deal now for a few reasons. First, identifying, recruiting and negotiating the transfer of such a player is ostensibly the responsibility of Mike Barnes. It's typically a multi-million dollar investment, generally a three-year or longer contract obligation, and must align with SKC's larger plan for how to build their roster for the next few years. Barnes just isn't old enough in the position to make this type of deal effectively.
Additionally, as Vermes and Barnes stated, the club is in a position to make the decision to retain or move 17 players in the upcoming offseason. In general, to ensure that a DP investment aligns with those decisions, the club needs to have a clear idea of what those decisions are. Unless a key player becomes available to the club that they would not have any other chance of acquiring, acquiring a DP this summer is neither likely nor appropriate.
Armed with this knowledge, we can predict that their most important need, Attacking Midfielder/#10, will likely not be addressed this summer simply due to the profile. If you look at the best #10s in MLS (ex: Luciano Acosta, Hany Mouktar, Carles Gil, etc.), they are all Designated Players. Since SKC is profiling a DP to fill a unique need at the #10 position, we would predict that it will likely not be addressed at this time.
Mike Illig has named a central defenseman and a winger as targets this summer, but given SKC's current limited resources at that position and Vermes' recent comments, I think they could add a central midfielder as well. These are all positions where a TAM player could be effective. SKC has examples of them in all three roles. Danny Rossello, Remi Walter, Eric Tommy and Jonny Russell are all TAM players. Daniel Salloi is technically listed as a DP but his cap charge is within the TAM range.
My personal opinion is that center back or central midfield are the most likely areas for players to be added, as not only would they address key areas of need for the rest of the year, but they would also be the foundation for the roster planning for the rest of the winter. As Cody Welton and I often talk about on the Home and Away podcast, the spine (central defense, central midfield, center forwards) is the most important part of the roster and the foundation for the rest of the team. This team needs to strengthen their fundamentals and I hope (and hope) that is where they will be focused first.
