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It is now official; Sporting Kansas City announced the signing of 28-year-old center back Andreu Fontàs. Sporting KC used Targeted Allocation Money on Fontas, signing the veteran Spanish defender through 2022.
“The whole idea is we need high quality individuals in our team at all positions and our objective all along has been to add better depth in our team. He is a very high-quality central defender,” Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes told The Blue Testament.
Fontas has 10 years and more than 200 games in Spain, starting with the Barcelona B team where he played alongside Sporting KC defensive midfielder Ilie Sanchez. Fontas then went on to play a handful of games with Barcelona’s senior side before moving to Celta Vigo where he played over 100 matches in La Liga, including appearances in Europa League.
Depth and quality
Fontas has played in multiple formations over the years and is typically listed as a center back but sometimes is also described as defensive midfielder as well. With Emiliano Amor being released (subtle placement in the press release), Sporting KC needs another experienced center back.
From Vermes perspective he is here to be a center back. “He is a central defender,” Vermes stated. “He has played defensive midfielder in his career quite a bit but more a central defender for sure. That’s his place.”
Signed but not quite delivered, yet…
“Fontas is signed but what is not done is he still needs to get a physical here, his P1 visa is not through yet and his ITC has not come through” Vermes explained. “He is signed, all of that is agreed upon and signed but now the final piece needs to happen. That is all real stuff. If we can’t get his ITC the deal is off, if he can’t pass his physical the deal is off.”