Sporting Kansas City adds winger Cristian Lobato

Sporting Kansas City announced on Thursday that they have signed 28-year-old Spanish midfielder Cristian Lobato.

"We're extremely excited to be able to add Cristian to the roster," Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes said in the press releae. "He is a versatile player who can play multiple positions in the midfield and across the front three. We weren't sure if we would be able to add Cristian in this coming window, but our player personnel department did a fantastic job to solidify this acquisition.”

Lobato spent some of his early years in the famous Barcelona youth system before being released in his early teen years. He signed back with Barcelona in 2011 and played with ‘Barca B’ alongside current Sporting KC midfielder Ille Sanchez. He comes to Sporting Kansas City from Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, a team currently playing in La Liga 2, where he made 45 appearances in two seasons. He had two assists and one goal this past season.

He can play winger, midfield, or outside back, according to the release.

The Lobato signing comes on the heels of the Igor Juliao release, which freed up the international slot necessary to sign Lobato.

Here is a highlight video of his from the past couple of seasons.

Lobato will become the 27th member of the Sporting KC roster when he joins on July 10.