UPDATED: Rumored Sporting KC Target Sanchez Mino Rejects Offer; Buyout Available

Updated 9/9/2020 @ 11:35 PM CST: This story seems to have real legs. Several updates have been tracked down by The Blue Testament’s own Mike Kuhn (you should really follow that guy on Twitter).

First, Independiente is reportedly unsatisfied with the compensation being offered to them but Sanchez Mino has offered to cancel debts the club owes him and to put up his own money to buy his release.

Next, Sanchez Mino stopped coming to training to show his displeasure. The Blue Testament staff joked how big time Sporting KC and MLS are getting that players are sitting out trying to force a move to Kansas City. Since that initial report, Sanchez Mino has missed additional training sessions.

Finally, today, another team has shown interest in acquiring Juan Manuel Sanchez Mino. Club Olimpia from Paraguay have thrown their name in the ring.

For there to be this many stories it would seem there is some real weight to the rumors. It’ll be interesting to see how it all unfolds.

The original story from September 1st is below.

With the secondary MLS transfer window open until October 29th, there are bound to be lots of rumors of players wanting to come to the United States. One that keeps popping up repeatedly is Sporting Kansas City being linked to Independiente defender / midfielder / winger / second striker Juan Manuel Sánchez Miño.

The Blue Testament first reported on it August 24th with Club Atlético Independiente (CAI) wanting $1 million for Sanchez Mino’s services. On the 30th that story was updated to include that Sporting KC had made the player a “very good proposal” to come to MLS.

In the subsequent two days, more information has come to light. Multiple sources are confirming that Sanchez Mino “reached an agreement with the Independiente leadership to terminate his contract in exchange for resigning a debt of $200,000 that the club had with him, in addition to paying compensation of about $300,000.”

So for half a million dollars (it’s almost assuredly dollars as the Argentina peso is worth about .013 dollars) Sanchez Mino can buy his release and go join another club. “Buy” being loaded because it appears he’s just forgoing $200,000 in compensation and paying the other $300,000. Originally, per Transfermarkt, we had Sanchez Mino out of contract at the end of 2020 but it appears his deal runs through June 2021 per Cielosports.

Today news came out that Sporting KC’s offer was rejected.

Per translate:

“Juan Sánchez Miño has the Kansas City proposal in your hands. Was approached to #Independiente, but they considered the compensation as insufficient. The player is offered a contract until December 2021, with numbers not very different from those signed at the Avellaneda club.”

Some are taking this to mean Independiente rejected KC’s offer, however, if the player is opting out of his contract, it would seem he rejected the offer. Possibly because it appears Sporting KC’s contract offer runs through just December 2021, a mere six months longer than the deal he already had in place with CAI.

If it is in fact CAI rejecting the offer, they may be asking too much with under a year to go on his contract when Sanchez Mino can leave on a free transfer via pre-contract in the last six months of the deal.

It’s logical that Sanchez Mino would want longer-term security if he’s going to ‘pay’ $500,000 to get out of his current contract. Presumably Sporting KC could cover that fee to CAI to secure his services. A transfer fee can be spread over the length of a contract, however, if the length is only 18 months, that’s just part of two seasons to eat up the fee. Then again, if it’s just $300,000, splitting it over two seasons leaves lots of wiggle room to sign Sanchez Mino to a deal that wouldn’t make him a Designated Player.

On Kansas City’s side of the equation, it’s clear why they might not want to commit to a presumably relatively decent sized contract for too long as will be 31-years-old in January. SKC have been burned before committing to an expensive, long-term contract, with barely used (and rarely healthy) CB Andreu Fontas. Fontas is still under contract two more seasons, guaranteed. And he makes north of $1 million per season.

Signing Juan Mino Sanchez until just the end of 2021 would limit their risk in making this deal and it also aligns with the expiration of many contracts (Graham Zusi, Johnny Russell, Felipe Gutierrez, etc.) which could set the team up for a transition of sorts.

The Blue Testament will continue to update you on this story as information becomes available.

With this new information, how do you feel about a potential deal? At what circumstances would you be for it? Join the discussion in the comments.