Sporting KC offers new loanee Winston Reid a chance to reinvigorate career in MLS

Lunging for the ball in a goalmouth scramble in March 2018, West Ham center back Winston Reid was knocked unconscious in a freak accident as his foot lodged in the turf and his knee twisted awkwardly, resulting in a torn ACL.

Since that injury, Reid is yet to compete in a competitive club game and has featured for his native New Zealand just once — a 3-1 victory over the Republic of Ireland this past November.

It’s been 715 days and counting since Reid last featured in a competitive senior lineup for a club team. But that lengthy absence is set to come to a close within a couple of weeks, as Sporting Kansas City’s newest loan signing should be expected to be available for selection come the start of the 2020 MLS season on Feb. 29.

“I’m just looking forward to (joining Sporting KC) and looking forward to trying something different basically,” Reid told the Star on Saturday. “It would have been hard for me to go to another club in England so this is the best solution.”

Reid joins Kansas City on a loan deal for an undisclosed time period as the 31-year-old looks to regain his form after nearly two years on the sidelines.

With three-and-a-half years left on contract at West Ham, the Hammers’ vice-captain has shown promise on several occasions of returning to the first team, including appearances with the under-23 squad as well as first-team outings during preseason friendlies.

But repeated injuries to his knee, as well as other nagging problems, have kept Reid, who also acts as New Zealand’s captain, on the sidelines for a good chunk of the prime of his career.

“He’s trying to get back to form and it’s part of this opportunity that’s in front of both him and us,” Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes said. “So I’m looking forward to working with him and seeing if we can get him back to his top form, he’s a very good player.”

Reid comes into Kansas City at a crucial time for the club, as it looks to rebound from a poor season that saw Vermes’ defense concede 67 goals. That total stood as the second-most in the league in 2019 and tied for ninth-most of all time.

And while Reid becomes the sixth center back on Kansas City’s roster, it opens up the opportunity for Sporting to not only potentially buy out Andreus Fontas — who’s contract demands north of $1 million a year — but also to add a player of true quality and experience to the backline.

“I think the biggest thing for me is two things; one is I love his leadership, he’s got an incredible presence on the field, he’s a man,” Vermes said. “And the other is it’s not just that he’s a good player but he’s also a physical specimen that I think could really translate to our league because he’s very athletic.”

As for his experience, Reid has featured for West Ham 166 times in the Premier League, helping the Hammers gain promotion back to England’s top division in 2012 and remaining there since. Perhaps most famously he scored the winning goal in West Ham’s final game at historic Upton Park — an 80th-minute winner to defeat Manchester United, 3-2.

He’s also featured for New Zealand 25 times, including in the 2010 World Cup in which he scored the decisive goal to tie Slovakia 1-1 and claim the country’s first men’s World Cup point.

“It’s good,” Reid said on coming to MLS. “Obviously it’s something different to what I’ve been used to, playing at West Ham for the last nearly 10 years, so it will be different but something I’m looking forward to.”

Reid leaves his wife, Yana, and children back in London, where the chance to return to West Ham remains very much a possibility. But for now, with the future on his knee injury still uncertain and the later years of his career approaching quickly, Reid is simply focused on getting back to full fitness and is open to remaining in Kansas City for the foreseeable future.

“It’s not only up to me obviously, I’ve still got three-and-a-half years left on my deal with West Ham, so it’s kind of out of my hands,” Reid said. “But I’m just happy to be here and we’ll have to cross that bridge when it gets a bit closer and once I know how (West Ham) have done this season and once we know how we’re doing here, so we’re going to have to cross that bridge a little bit later.”

This story was originally published February 16, 2020 at 4:29 PM with the headline "Sporting KC offers new loanee Winston Reid a chance to reinvigorate career in MLS."