Help on the way for Sporting Kansas City: team looks to to add two players this summer

First, the bad news: Sporting Kansas City currently sits dead last in the Western Conference table, the result of a first have of the season decimated by injuries. The club won’t get two of its best players back at all in 2022.

And now, some better news: Help should soon be on the way.

During ABC’s broadcast of Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the New England Revolution, Taylor Twellman cited European scouts who’d indicated that Sporting’s in the market for two players: Erik Thommy and William Agada.

MLS insider Tom Bogert added confirmation of that report, and while Sporting KC manager Vermes won’t comment on potential deals until and unless they’re complete, multiple sources indicate to The Star that the signings should be official in the coming weeks.

Agada, who goes by “Willy,” is a striker who played for Hapoel Jerusalem in the Israeli top flight. The 22-year-old Nigerian scored eight goals last season for Hapoel, including three crucial ones during their relegation tournament.

Thommy, meanwhile, primarily played as a winger for Stuttgart. He’s played nearly 100 games in the German Bundesliga, recording nine goals and 14 assists.

It may seem strange that Sporting would add another winger, but multiple people with knowledge of the transfer indicated that KC sees him as more of an attacking midfielder.

While Agada will require a small transfer agreement, Thommy will not. He simply needs to sign a contract, as he will be out of contract with Stuttgart as of July 1.

Major League Soccer’s summer or secondary transfer window doesn’t open until July 7, but Sporting KC is feeling urgency to act quickly and decisively. After Sunday’s loss, Vermes spoke of a lack of healthy and available bodies for Sporting’s front line.

“There are substitutes, but they don’t play any of the positions that the guys are going down in,” Vermes said. “So now, all of a sudden it’s completely changing things, and it’s hard to move the guys around. We came into this game without any (healthy) center forwards.”

Daniel Salloi and Marinos Tzionis were away on international duty last weekend with their respective national teams. Khiry Shelton and Nikola Vujnovic are both hurt, and even if Vujnovic were healthy, he likely would’ve been called up to the Montenegro national team.

So Felipe Hernandez — whose main position is midfielder — played striker, while Cam Duke — another midfielder — played winger.

Sporting has rarely been a player during MLS’s summer transfer window. With the way MLS is structured, other teams have made massive summer signings that catapulted them up the standings. A midseason injection of quality can help a club surge, sometimes even to a title.

That wasn’t the plan for Sporting. When the season started, they believed they really only needed to find a viable option for replacing designated player and Mexican star Alan Pulido. Vujnovic has yet to be that, and Shelton hasn’t stepped up even when he’s been been healthy.

Throw in the later-in-the-window loss of Gadi Kinda for the entire season, and Sporting is treading water — a team badly in need of some help.

Vermes had no choice but to look outside for reinforcements.

“We have too many guys out with injuries, and two guys that probably won’t play a minute this year in both our DPs,” Vermes said. “We need to add players to get ourselves bodies, and some quality, on the field.”

Sporting KC travels to Tennessee on Sunday for a Father’s Day/Juneteenth matchup against Nashville SC at the brand new GEODIS Park. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.

This story was originally published June 17, 2022 at 5:11 PM with the headline "Help on the way for Sporting Kansas City: team looks to to add two players this summer."