How Sporting’s Khiry Shelton became the player he always hoped to be right here in KC

Khiry Shelton felt like he was coming home when he signed on the dotted line to return to Sporting Kansas City.

He’d fulfilled his dream of playing soccer in Europe and was ready to return to the first place he’d truly felt a sense of family and culture in soccer.

He’d already spent a season in Kansas City in 2018, featuring 24 times for the club, mainly as a center forward.

It was an easy choice to come back.

But then, just two days later, designated player and center forward Alan Pulido was signed by Sporting KC for what would be a club-record fee, reportedly $9.5 million.

All that Shelton could think: “Hold up, what’s going on?”

Confusion began to set in for the 27-year-old Shelton. He’d rejoined Kansas City to get regular playing time.

Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes pulled him aside.

“I think I’m going to play you out on the wing,” Vermes told Shelton.

Shelton had never started a game on the wing for Kansas City before, but if Vermes wanted it, then Shelton was going to do it.

Shelton lined up at right wing in Sporting’s March season opener against Vancouver. He recorded a goal and assist from the right wing in the team’s following game, against Houston.

Since then, Shelton has been hailed by many of Sporting KC’s senior players as one of the team’s best players this season. He’s picked up four goals and an assist in 11 appearances so far in 2020.

This success has been a long time coming.

‘A dark time for me’

Shelton’s career was almost over before it started.

As a determined 18-year-old, playing for Oregon State, Shelton started the first six games of his freshman year. He scored against No. 3 North Carolina and had an assist against No. 22 Washington.

But then a broken foot put a grinding halt to his season. And it could have cost him more than just that year.

“When I talked to the doctor and stuff, he said, ‘You’re going to have to put a screw in your foot, and if it doesn’t heal 100% correctly, there’s a chance that you might not be able to play anymore,” Shelton recalled.

“That was a very dark time for me.”

It was the first major injury for Shelton. He was out of action for eight months.

But it was during this time period that a major facet of what makes Khiry Shelton tick came to light:

Resilience.

“What it told me at the time was this young man is willing to venture into the world of professional soccer,” Steve Simmons, Shelton’s coach at Oregon State, told The Star. “That he’s going to have an opportunity to make it, not just because of his talent, but because of his ability to endure.”

Out of that resiliency came a player who went on to win the Pac-12 Player of the Year award his senior year before being drafted second overall in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft.

But it wasn’t just resiliency that got Shelton to Oregon State, and eventually Major League Soccer. His ability to play with the ball at his feet and work with the ball in tight spaces was unique for a 6-foot-3 forward.

Simmons decided to make Sheltonthe Beavers’ number nine.

“That nine position commanded so much respect from opposing defenses that normally a good nine will tie up two center defenders,” Simmons said. “But there were times were (Shelton) would tie up three or four players and really give more options to the rest of the squad going forward.”

Shelton’s play was so good as a college number nine that Vermes took notice. During the summers, Shelton would spend a couple of weeks training with Sporting KC, allowing Vermes and his staff to get a closer look at him.

“He was a player that I was immediately drawn to,” Vermes said. “I appreciated the qualities that he had, which I think is really evident for most people to see, but the one that I was able to gain from his coach was one of the reasons he could play multiple positions, especially up front, is because he had a really strong soccer IQ.”

The longest-tenured manager in MLS liked Shelton so much that he tried to trade up in the 2015 draft order to get him. But ultimately it was the expansion New York City FC club that gave the young forward his first chance in pro soccer.

A dream come true

Shelton grew up an Arsenal fan.

He spent his youth watching the incredible Arsenal teams of the 2000s, including the 2004 “Invincibles” squad that, captained by Patrick Vieira, went undefeated for a whole Premier League season.

When Vieira was confirmed as New York City’s manager at the start of the 2016 season, it was an unreal experience for Shelton. And if that wasn’t enough, he had World Cup winners David Villa and Andrea Pirlo and Chelsea legend Frank Lampard as teammates.

Shelton was just 23.

“I don’t know how many players in their life can say they had or played with or been coached by world class players,” Shelton said.

But before Vieira entered the picture, Shelton spent much of his first season sharing time with Villa at the center forward position. He began to hone his finishing skills. But it wasn’t just finishing he learned from the Spanish forward; he learned to set up his first touch to lead to a good shot or pass.

“It’s so cool to see somebody so passionate,” Shelton said said of Villa. “I feel like I’m as passionate as he is about football, and to see that come into play in front of my eyes, I’m thankful for that.”

When Vieira arrived ahead of Shelton’s second season, it seemed like a dream come true. But that dream quickly morphed into frustration.

The first decision Vieira made for Shelton was to move him out wide. That was the first major step in creating the version of Shelton that currently plays for Sporting KC.

“We’re going to put you out here and this is my vision for you,” Vieira told Shelton. “Now I have a view that is on the wing.”

Shelton played out wide in Vieira’s system, but he found the debut first-team manager’s methods a little overbearing.

“It was information overload for me,” Shelton admits. “He wanted to shape me into a better player and somebody he wanted me to be, which was tough because I wanted to be myself and express myself the way I want to.”

Shelton made a career-low 15 appearances in 2017 as he struggled to adjust to exactly what Vieira wanted. He had one year left on his current contract, and that’s when Vermes pounced.

Back to center forward

Depending on who you ask and where you look, Shelton’s initial year in KC was either a boom or a bust.

On the stat sheet, it certainly didn’t look pretty.

In the aftermath of Dom Dwyer’s move to Orlando City — the summer of 2017 — Sporting was looking for a long-term solution at center forward. Joining the club in December 2017, Shelton slotted back to his comfortable center forward position.

He played 24 times for Kansas City in 2018, scoring just twice and collecting five assists.

But it wasn’t just goals that Vermes wanted. He wasn’t looking for Shelton to be the out-and-out scorer that Dwyer was.

“I never really took too much of my focus on how many goals he scored,” Vermes said. “The most important thing was every time he was on the field we were getting results.”

Shelton ably filled the role he held at Oregon State — drawing defenders away and creating space for teammates. Wingers Daniel Salloi and Johnny Russell both scored in double-digits that season, running into spaces often created by Shelton.

“Even though he wasn’t scoring, he was opening up a lot of opportunities for a lot of the other players on the field for them to score,” Vermes said.

The formula seemed to be working as Kansas City made it to the Western Conference finals before falling to the Portland Timbers.

Shelton didn’t play in that final game of the season.

“I left with unfinished business,” Shelton said. “Especially not playing in that last game, that really hurt me. It’s still eating at me.”

When Shelton was drafted in 2015, he’d made a deal with himself:

“When I was done with four years in MLS I would test the (European) waters a little bit,” he said.

His contract with Sporting KC, which was a continuation of his contract with NYCFC, was drawing to a close at the end of the 2018 season. Vermes wanted to keep the forward who’d helped take his club to its first conference final since 2013.

But there was no changing Shelton’s mind. He’d told Vermes of his dream to play in Europe since day one.

“We tried to renegotiate with him, but credit to him, up front he was very honest and said he’s always had a dream of trying to play in Europe and he had an opportunity to do that,” Vermes said.

After one year in Kansas City, Shelton packed up his bags and headed to German team Paderborn.

The long road home

On a soccer field at Paderborn’s training facility, about 68 miles outside of Dortmund, Shelton set up his own cones and mannequins.

Recalling the drills he’d learned with Sporting KC, Shelton grabbed a couple of balls and began training alone.

“At a certain point I knew that I wasn’t going to play — I wasn’t even going to get a sniff — so that’s when I’d spend a lot of time doing drills that I did (in Kansas City),” Shelton said. “Being on the ball more, doing a lot more finishing.”

From birth to age 6, Shelton grew up in the small town of Budingen, just outside Frankfurt. His father, Mike, was stationed in Germany with the U.S. military at the time.

That helped explain why Shelton thought his best bet for playing soccer in Europe would be in Germany. He was used to the culture.

But he played in just six games across all competitions for Paderborn. For the first time since his injury-ridden two years at Oregon State, he wasn’t playing first-team soccer on a regular basis.

“When you’re not getting opportunities like you think you should, a lot of people would just cave, but I wasn’t going to let that happen,” Shelton said. “I was like, ‘I’m too good of a player to let that happen. If I don’t get my opportunity this year, it’s going to come next year.’”

When it didn’t, he was faced with a difficult period of his life ... and a difficult decision. His dream was fulfilled, at least for now. He’d given European soccer a shot and was now ready to resume playing on a regular basis.

One option was to try another European team — he had interest from other German clubs, he said, as well as teams in Croatia and Spain.

But players on a more familiar team were still keeping in touch with him.

“Zoran Savic, our assistant coach, talked to him quite a few times, and I think at some point he realized it was time for him maybe to come back (to Kansas City) because he felt most comfortable here,” Vermes said.

At first Vermes and his staff sought to bring him back on loan in order to leave the European door open for Shelton. But Paderborn’s sporting director at wouldn’t allow it.

Instead, Shelton saw out his contract and returned to Kansas City in the same manner he left: on a free transfer.

“I didn’t want to stay in Europe and go through another year like that,” Shelton said.

Shelton would be looking at a slightly different role in his return to Sporting KC. He didn’t know it at the time, but the deal for Pulido was already underway and would make the Mexican national Sporting KC’s primary number nine.

“I told him that I wanted him to realize that there’s a really good chance that he could be featuring wide,” Vermes said. “The great thing is that he’s already spent a lot of time there, so it wouldn’t be something that he would have to learn how to do.”

Shelton has thrived in the role.

Early in Shelton’s time at Oregon State, Simmons appreciated his ability to whip in an accurate cross. Vieira helped shape Shelton into the winger he is today.

But it’s Vermes who gave Shelton the freedom to be the player he wanted to be on the wing.

“I think that in his mind he’s settled with having the experience that was a dream of his, of going overseas,” Vermes said. “That’s kind of out of the way and I think that about it on him being more focused on his profession.”

Shelton still thinks of playing in Europe again. But he also has other dreams now, too: to win an MLS Cup in Kansas City, and to earn his first cap with U.S. Men’s National Team.

“I’m thankful as ever to be here, and this is where my focus is,” Shelton said. “I’m here and I want to win with this team. I want to win silverware and be one of the best attacking players in MLS.”

This story was originally published September 18, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "How Sporting’s Khiry Shelton became the player he always hoped to be right here in KC."