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With the season starting this weekend, it felt like a good time to scan across the Sporting Kansas City roster and see where things stack up. As of today there are 29 players on the roster, though technically Eric Dick is on a full season loan to Phoenix Rising, so two open spots remain.
Sporting KC had an extra international roster spot coming into the year, but that’s been occupied by Winston Reid. The team has until Friday to potentially buyout a player and free up a spot (read: Andreu Fontas).
Contract Years
Quite a few players find themselves entering 2020 in a contract year. They can be divided into two groups. Players who have options for beyond 2020 and players who are out of contract at the end of the season.
Out of Contract After 2020: Matt Besler, Roger Espinoza, Gerso Fernandes, Erik Hurtado, Richard Sanchez, Gadi Kinda*
* Kinda’s deal is a loan which some believe has already been picked up, but that Peter Vermes has said the team can decline to purchase.
2021 Option (at least): Daniel Salloi, Johnny Russell, Felipe Gutierrez, Eric Dick, Graham Smith, Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal, Botond Barath, Felipe Hernandez, Amadou Dia
The Curious Case of Winston Reid
You’ll find Reid below with a couple “unknowns” next to his name. That’s because the team confirmed, at the request of West Ham United, they won’t be disclosing the terms of his loan. One would guess it’s probably until the summer with potentially the option to extend it.
The Full Roster
Sporting KC Roster w/ Options
| Name | Position | Status | Joined | Contract Expiration | Option Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | Status | Joined | Contract Expiration | Option Years |
| Matt Besler | CB | 1/15/2009 | 2020 | None | |
| Graham Zusi | RB | 1/15/2009 | 2021 | None | |
| Tim Melia | GK | 12/23/2014 | 2022 | None | |
| Roger Espinoza | CM | 1/6/2015 | 2020 | None | |
| Daniel Salloi | LW | HG | 1/13/2016 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Gerso Fernandes | RW | 1/4/2017 | 2020 | None | |
| Ilie Sanchez | CDM | 1/13/2017 | 2021 | 2022 | |
| Gianluca Busio | CAM | HG | 8/25/2017 | 2020 | 2021, 2022 |
| Jaylin Lindsey | RB | HG | 1/1/2018 | 2021 | 2022 |
| Johnny Russell | LW | INT-DP | 1/31/2018 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Felipe Gutierrez | CM | INT-DP | 2/6/2018 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Eric Dick | GK | 2/15/2018 | 2020 | 2021 | |
| Graham Smith | CB | 2/15/2018 | 2020 | 2021 | |
| Kuzain | CDM | HG | 4/13/2018 | 2020 | 2021, 2022 |
| Andreu Fontas | CB | INT | 8/8/2018 | 2022 | None |
| Erik Hurtado | FWD | 12/14/2018 | 2020 | None | |
| Botond Barath | CB | INT | 12/18/2018 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Tyler Freeman | FWD | HG | 1/1/2019 | 2022 | 2023 |
| Cameron Duke | MID | HG | 7/18/2019 | 2022 | 2023 |
| Luis Martins | LB | INT | 8/1/2019 | 2021 | 2022 |
| Felipe Hernandez | MID | HG | 8/30/2019 | 2020 | 2021, 2022 |
| Richard Sanchez | GK | 11/26/2019 | 2020 | None | |
| Roberto Puncec | CB | INT | 12/4/2019 | 2021 | 2022 |
| Khiry Shelton | FWD | 12/9/2019 | 2022 | 2023 | |
| Alan Pulido | CF | INT-DP | 12/10/2019 | 2023 | None |
| Amadou Dia | LB | 1/10/2020 | 2020 | 2021, 2022 | |
| Gadi Kinda | MID | INT | 1/23/2020 | 2020 | None |
| Winston Reid | CB | INT | 2/14/2020 | Unknown | Unknown |
| John Pulskamp | GK | HG | 2/24/2020 | 2022 | 2023 |
HG = Homegrown; INT = International Roster Spot; DP = Designated Player
The DPs are just guesses at this time based on Pulido’s record transfer fee and Russell and Gutierrez being the top two paid players from 2019.