Sporting KC deals striker to MLS Western Conference foe: Wednesday trade details
Transfer deadline day is typically a frenetic time across Major League Soccer.
Sporting Kansas City isn’t usually all that active leading up to such deadlines, but this week presented a notable exception: KC got in on the action not just Tuesday, but Wednesday, too.
Twenty-four hours before closure of the league’s primary transfer window — which arrived late Wednesday afternoon — Sporting KC acquired striker Santiago Muñoz on loan from Santos Laguna.
That made for a crowded stable of Sporting KC strikers ... but not for long.
MLS transfer insider Tom Bogert reported Wednesday that Sporting KC and Real Salt Lake were nearing completion of a deal that would send forward William Agada from Kansas City to Real Salt Lake.
Sources confirmed to The Star that the deal had been finalized and an official announcement was coming soon.
In exchange for Agada, 25, Sporting KC will receive $500,000 in general allocation money (GAM) for 2025, as well as an additional $350,000 in GAM in 2026 if Agada re-signs with RSL.
Sporting would also receive a future sell-on percentage if RSL transfers Agada. A source with knowledge of the situation said the percentage would be 50% if Agada is transferred in 2025, or 20% if he’s transferred in any year of a potential contract extension with RSL.
Agada, who is out of contract after the 2025 season, joined Sporting KC in 2022. In 77 appearances across all competitions, he scored 24 goals and provided six assists.
After the transfer of Alan Pulido, it seemed Agada might get a full season to prove himself capable of being KC’s main man up top. But the offseason acquisition of Dejan Joveljic scuttled that possibility.
Joveljic has scored five goals and provided one assist in his first nine games with Sporting. Agada has made six appearances in 2025 and has not scored.
Agada hit the ground running when he was acquired in the summer of 2022. Filling in for then-injured Pulido, he scored eight goals in 12 games.
In 2023, however, injuries and Pulido’s resurgence contributed to a drop in both appearances and production for Agada: He scored just three goals in 14 games.
Agada scored 12 goals in 40 appearances last season across all competitions. His xG (expected goals) of 14.6 ranked sixth-best in MLS, but he also underperformed that mark by the highest rate in the league.
What the Agada trade to RSL means for Sporting KC
The $500,000 in GAM that Sporting KC receives from RSL is a significant amount of money.
It is earmarked for 2025, which means it must be used this year. Sporting can use it as part of a trade to acquire another player, or to buy down contract charges against the salary cap.
The inclusion of a sell-on fee in the Agada trade means Sporting could net future profit for Agada, too. On the other hand, if Agada is a hit and stays with Salt Lake long-term, KC would get another $350,000 in GAM next year.
With RSL, Agada is joining former teammate
Agada might not be the only former Sporting KC player linking up with Real Salt Lake.
Bogert reported that former Sporting KC captain Johnny Russell visited the RSL facility this week and club and player were subsequently involved “in advanced talks.”
Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.
This story was originally published April 23, 2025 at 4:20 PM.