Robert Beric Not Signing with Sporting Kansas City

Just before Christmas, Sporting Kansas City surprised many around Major League Soccer when they drafted former Chicago Fire Designated Player, Robert Beric, in the second stage of the Re-Entry Draft (what an MLS specific sentence). Well his time in Kansas City wasn’t meant to be.

According to my colleague at The Blue Testament, Thad Bell, Beric will not be signing with Sporting KC.

As we stated from the beginning, that was always likely to be the case. Beric was making $2,703,164 with Chicago and the point of Stage 2 of the Re-Entry draft is to acquire players that you can offer less money to. It’s likely Beric needed to take a pay cut all the way down to under the Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) maximum of $1,612,500.

Even though Beric was coming off a down year, strikers still have value. He’s scored 150 goals in his career and he was the leading scorer in the Juniper Pro League (Belgium) at RSC Anderlecht before coming to MLS.

What Does this Mean for Sporting KC?

Perhaps he’s headed back overseas. If he wants to remain in MLS, a team would have to trade Sporting KC for his rights as they now own them after drafting him and presumably making him a genuine offer.

As for SKC, their roster build remains incomplete. Khiry Shelton is essentially the primary backup at all three forward spots. The team is in need of depth, or potentially attackers capable of pushing the starters. With preseason just a few weeks away, moves have to be coming very soon. Then again, players often join during preseason. The earlier they arrive though, the better integrated they are likely to become.

Stay with The Blue Testament for all the signings (and rumors) over the coming weeks.