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Sporting Kansas City II announced that they will return a minimum of eight players for the 2021 season.
The club has exercised options on rookie goalkeeper Remi Prieur and forward Enoch Mushagalusa while goalkeeper Brooks Thompson, defender Kaveh Rad, midfielder Jake Davis and captain Christian Duke are also under contract through 2021. The Croatian duo of Petar Cuic and Dominik Resetar will also return to SKC II on loan from Dinamo Zagreb II.
SKC II is also in ongoing negotiations with defender Danny Barbir over signing a new deal after his contract expiration.
Additionally, the club said they declined the contract options of defender Sam Raben, midfielder Duval Wapiwo, and forwards Fredinho Mompremier and Jaret Townsend. Dillon Serna, Camden Riley, and Will Little are also out of contract with SKC II while Mitch Hildebrandt will continue his duties as goalkeeper coach.
The last SPR original, Will Little is out of contract with the club, Little played just 27 games over his 5 seasons with TFKASPR
— Mike (@downthebyline) November 30, 2020
With intentions of continuing to play in the USL Championship for 2021, Sporting II still has four Academy-contracted players age-eligible to continue with the SKC Academy: Gavin Krenecki, Kayden Pierre, Isaiah LeFlore, and Bailey Sparks.
It wasn’t too surprising that they didn’t exercise the contract options on Raben, Wapiwo, and Townsend considering their limited time. Considering Mompremier and Mushaglusa were such similar players, it isn’t too surprising that they kept the younger Mushagalusa.
The least surprising was Little’s departure, but it will be interesting to see where Serna is in 2021 after impressing with SKC II in 2020. While Riley isn’t quite an MLS-caliber player, he did have a much more steady 2020 and proved that he can be a solid player in multiple positions in the USL.
With outstanding seasons from Academy products Wilson Harris and Jake Davis, I would expect Harris to be loaned to SKC II for most games in order for those two to remain the backbone of the SKC II team in 2021.
This now limits the roster down to eight players for Paulo Nagamura’s fourth season in charge.
- GK- Brooks Thompson; Remi Prieur
- DF- Kaveh Rad; Petar Cuic
- MF- Jake Davis; Christian Duke
- FW- Dominik Resetar; Enoch Mushagalusa
In case you missed it, check out the recap and stats from Sporting KC II’s 2020 campaign.