Sporting KC are Shopping Soony Saad and Kevin Ellis

Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star is reporting that Soony Saad and Kevin Ellis won’t travel to Scottsdale, Arizona where preseason is set to begin on Monday.

The Ellis news is not surprising as it had previously been reported that Sporting Kansas City had been in trade talks regarding Kevin Ellis. That makes sense as Ellis and the team had been at odds and he agreed to take a voluntary leave last season (it should be noted MLS teams aren’t allowed to suspend players per the CBA). Ellis has value as a veteran MLS defender who is on an expensive contract and has plenty of experience.

The Soony Saad news does not come as a surprise for me. He played in only 12 games in 2017 which just six starts and 453 minutes. He tallied only a single assist, though he help in the creation of an own goal when his shot was poorly handled by David Bingham in his debut last year and he scored a goal that wasn’t counted when he shot a rocket into the goal but it bounced out and Jimmy Medranda headed it home.

That said, there is no room on the roster for a player can’t seem to help the team when he gets on the field. Saad also got to spend some time with the Swope Park Rangers in 2017 when he went on loan for two games. He got a goal and a red card on that short trip to the B-Team.

My gut tells me moves for both players are imminent if they aren’t joining their teammates for preseason. Why risk injuring them and Vermes is quoted as having “player movement” discussions regarding Saad.

2017 marked the return of Saad to Sporting KC. He played for them initially starting in 2011 through 2014. He then went to play for BEC Tero Sasana in Thailand for two seasons between stints with SKC.

If 2017 taught us anything is you can’t always come home again. Both Soony Saad and Igor Juliao returned to SKC and it appears they will both be gone in the coming days and weeks with a Saad transfer. Juliao was released over the summer.