Rumor: Sporting KC Make $6 Million Failed Bid for Argentine Midfielder

Some fans would say that Sporting Kansas City never spend. Peter Vermes would dispute those fans, and rightfully so. If there is any truth to this rumor, then the club is sure trying to spend and spend big.

A rumor from TyC Sports stated that Sporting KC made a $6 million bid for Argentina U-20 midfielder Fausto Vera. The bid would have reportedly been for only 50% of his rights meaning that his former club would have retained half of any future transfer fee SKC could have gotten when (or if) they sold him on.

The deal also would have allowed Vera to stay with his club Argentinos Juniors in the Superliga (Argentina’s first division) until the end of the year back on loan. Then he would have presumably joined SKC for preseason ahead of the 2020 season.

Instead, at least according to this source, the deal has fallen through. Fausto Vera is just 19-years-old and he has played very limited minutes with his senior club team. However, he has recently played for the Argentina U-20s in both the South American U-20 Championship and subsequently in the U-20 World Cup where they were amazingly bounced by Mali in the Round of 16 (for reference the United States made it to the Quarter Finals before losing to Ecuador). He also reported was called up to the U-23s for the Pan American Games in Lima.

Where Does he Play in the Midfield?

Vera is listed as a defensive midfielder but Transfermarkt has him as a central midfielder as well (though most of his minutes are highlighted as deeper in the midfield). Speaking of TM, they list his value at just €500,000 ($557,000 US). Obviously, if there is any truth to this number, his value is flying up.

It would be interesting if Sporting KC see him as a defensive midfielder or at some other position on the pitch. Obviously they already have Ilie Sanchez as their defensive mid and he recently signed a contract extension through 2021 (with an option for 2022) and they gave him a sizeable raise to $900,000.

Lots of fans have clamoured for a future replacement for Roger Espinoza when his level of play inevitably drops off. His return this past weekend showed how important he is to the club and what a role he plays. If Fausto Vera could be a younger version of that fans would likely be ecstatic. Of course, that assumes there is any validity to this rumor and SKC don’t give up after this reported failed bid.

Speaking of finding the truth to the rumor. Our own Mike Kuhn did some quick digging and he located a couple of tweets in addition to the story linked above , but the tweets aren’t clear if they are simply getting their info from TyC Sports (one of the tweets is an employee of TyC) or if they have another independent source. I located another blip on it, but again, no source.

So, as always, take these rumors with a grain of salt. But at least SKC are rumored to be trying to make big moves.

Take to the comments and give us your thoughts and we at The Blue Testament will pass on anymore information that becomes available about Vera or other potential signings.