Just 17, Gianluca Busio is outpacing all expectations placed on him by Sporting KC

With mere minutes left on the clock and Sporting Kansas City clinging to a 2-1 lead at Vancouver in Saturday’s MLS opener, manager Peter Vermes looked to his bench for a spark.

His eyes scanned over seasoned veterans like Daniel Salloi and Botand Barath, finally landing on teenager Gianluca Busio.

Just minutes later, Busio made the vital interception that led to Gerso Fernandes chipping the ball to the back post for Erik Hurtado’s stoppage-time goal.

“When he came on, for a kid his age, 17, to come into a game like that ...” Vermes said. “Game’s 2-1 and we need him to now be in part of a field where he’s got to be able to go both ways in the midfield.”

“And with a team who right now is trying to get back into the game, is playing home, home opener, all those things, for him to play as calm as he was — good on the ball, picking the right choices, to make a pass, whether it’s a penetrating ball to keep possession, whatever it might be.”

That impact is of little surprise to Vermes. He’s constantly resetting his bar for Busio. At every step since his arrival in Kansas City at just 15 years of age, Busio has exceeded every expectation set by Vermes and the coaching staff.

“My first year I just kind of went in there blindly, I didn’t really have many conversations about what was going to happen,” Busio said on Tuesday. “I don’t think (Vermes) really knew what I was going to do, either.”

Vermes certainly knew the potential Busio held; he just didn’t expect him to fast-track the system and become a first-team rotational starter at 17.

When Busio first arrived, the plan was for him to spend time practicing with the first team for a couple of weeks while playing for Sporting Kansas City II, then yo-yo between practicing for the senior team and SKC II every couple of weeks.

But by the end of the 2018 preseason, Busio had proved he was past that point of his development and was training full-time with the first team.

At just 16 years and 61 days old, he became the youngest Sporting KC player to feature in an MLS match, coming in as a substitute against FC Dallas. He would go on to make seven appearances in 2018 before becoming a regular in 2019.

“Once I signed I kind of pictured this happening, and I signed so young I was a year in the league at such a young age so I could get used to it,” Busio said. “So definitely I kind of saw it coming and I believed in my ability at the time.

“I kind of wanted it to happen and then it did, so I was ready for it at the time — and I can only keep on developing.”

Busio’s progression as a pro is a unique situation for Vermes. The typical path would be that of defender Jaylin Lindsey, who spent time with Sporting KC’s academy before moving through SKC II and eventually to the senior team.

The path for a homegrown player to reach the senior team involves an in-depth evaluation process. Vermes’ team tests each player on technicality, tactical awareness and physicality. A psychologic exam is given, as well, to see if a player appears ready and able to endure the strain of fixture congestion and travel.

Busio simply outperformed everything that was expected of him. But there’s still plenty of work ahead.

Vermes wants, and expects, him to be “the guy” in the near future, and that involves the ability to play consistently.

“The key is always going to be what you can sustain consistently and for how long. Because it’s one thing to play three, four, five good games; it’s another thing to play 34 good games or 30 or 28, somewhere in that range,” Vermes said. “And that’s what you’re striving for, and it’s why you can’t just say, ‘Hey, here you go.’ You’ve got to build toward that.”

Between Sporting Kansas City and SKC II, Vermes expects Busio to play between 24 and 30 games in 2020. That number will only increase as he gets older, even as he leaves SKC II behind.

“He’s close. He’s really, really close, he just is,” Vermes said. “We all think he’s right there. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t think so.”

This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Just 17, Gianluca Busio is outpacing all expectations placed on him by Sporting KC."