Noted rumor site notes possible trades

Noted rumor site MLSSoccer.com has a deadline day tracker for the closing of the 2018 Primary Transfer Window for MLS which closes on May 1^st. One of the updates indicates that three Western Conference teams are each actively shopping a player in trade.

The trade market isn’t all that hot, but sources have said that three Western Conference teams have been actively shopping one player each in recent weeks. None of the players have played a big role this year, but all three have some promise and could do well in the right situation. I can’t yet name the players involved, but they include a young Homegrown, a versatile MLS veteran and a recent international signing that could use a change of scenery.

—Sam Stejskal

No teams were mentioned but it did lead to a conversation between the staff for this site. Could Sporting Kansas City be one of those teams and if they are, who could they be shopping around?

Kansas City’s foremost statistics guru and unofficial historian Mike Kuhn brought up Gerso as a possibility internally and our own Chad Smith floated the possibility in a tweet as well.

But why does Gerso come to the mind quickly?

Gerso is a recently (last year) signed player that was a starter but now struggles for time this year. He has not started and has just 120 minutes in 7 appearances. It has been tough for him to break past Johnny Russell, Daniel Salloi and Yohan Croizet.

The speedy winger has been out injured the last couple games, so he has not even been in the gameday 18, fueling more speculation. Gerso has not appeared unhappy or looked like he wasn’t trying in practice at all so while possible, it does seem unlikely at the moment.

One thing in favor of the possibility is the ill-timed injury. It’s not like Sporting KC has had players with “injuries” in the past sit out while waiting for a transfer to go through, *cough* ... Uri Rosell… *cough*.

Sporting KC doesn’t really have any versatile veterans that need a change nor a Homegrown player that would be likely to be moved either so Gerso is probably the only candidate if SKC was one of those teams. And that’s a big if.

The more likely story, if noted rumor site MLSSoccer.com’s sources are accurate would be other Western Conference teams, not Sporting KC. Either way, the Primary Transfer Window closes tomorrow and while TheBlueTestament.com will not be asking about this, we will check in with Peter Vermes to see if any moves are likely on the final day of this window.

A couple possibilities

Colorado Rapids midfielder Stefan Aigner only played 9 games last season and just 1 this year (11 minutes worth) and has been reported to not even be training with the first team anymore. He could be looking for fresh start after having been mostly ignored by new Colorado boss Anthony Hudson. The German mid would make sense as the international player being shopped.

One Homegrown player that has been mentioned by fans as a possibility is San Jose’s Tommy Thompson. He has not been in the lineup much, making one appearance for 8 minutes and has been listed as out with an illness for their last two games. With 80 starts and just 22-years-old he might need a fresh start as well.