Sporting KC parts with Nikola Vujnovic

Sporting Kansas City announced that they and Nikola Vujnovic have mutually agreed to terminate his contract. Vujnovic, made ten appearances in all competitions for Sporting Kansas City after being acquired in February on loan from FK Vozdovac in Serbia.

The 25-year-old Montenegrin made nine appearances with four starts in MLS and one in U.S. Open Cup. His lone goal for Sporting KC was in the 60^th minute of the Open Cup match, starting the dramatic comeback that advanced Sporting KC to the next round.

Thad Bell

has not made an appearance since May 19^th when he was injured in a match with the Colorado Rapids. He was injured by a Colorado player in the 24^th minute. The resulting quick restart from Uri Rosell set up Daniell Salloi for the first of his two goals that day. Vujnovic had been having a good start and tried to continue to play but was forced to come out a few minutes later.

There has been limited practice for Vujnovic since the injury and it is unknown if he was ever going to recover in time to help SKC this season.

Why now?

Sporting KC have already signed two players for this window and are just waiting on the paperwork (visa) to have them join the team. Both Erik Thommy and William Agada required international slots on the roster and Sporting KC had those available. Now with Vujnovic leaving, there is an additional international slot open as well as a senior roster spot.

Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes has recently stated that they were working on a potential third signing, but today he told media today that, “We have a couple leads on a couple things that we’ve been working on.” Cryptic but combined with this move could mean something is close but not a done deal.

It could be that SKC needs another international slot for that player. It could also be an opportunity to grab some GAM (General Allocation Money) in trade with a team looking for another international player.

Charlotte FC acquired $200,000 General Allocation Money (GAM) in 2022 from the LA Galaxy in exchange for a 2022 international roster slot just this week and in June, Atlanta United sent $175,000 in GAM to both the Seattle Sounders and Nashville SC for international spots.

An open international will go for that amount for now but may drop soon as the window gets closer to closing. That spot could be for a player, or trade bait for cash or perhaps another player from within the league.

As always, Questions!

Does this move mean Vermes is about to add another signing? Make a trade? Or just selling an asset they do not need?

And does this mean a lot of confidence in Nigerian forward William Agada when he arrives to add some scoring punch?