Sporting KC midfielder Paulo Nagamura among MLS’ inaugural free agency class

Nine months after a drawn-out negotiation process between Major League Soccer owners and the players union threatened the start of the 2015 season, the union's biggest victory came to fruition.

Free-agency.

The inaugural MLS free-agent class was made public Monday evening, and it consists of 26 players, including Sporting Kansas City midfielder Paulo Nagamura. The team's contract talks with Nagamura are ongoing.

Under the new collective-bargaining agreement, players 28 years and older with eight years of MLS service are eligible for free-agency when their contracts expire.

The league also released Monday a list of 60 players eligible for the Re-Entry Draft, scheduled for Friday. Sporting KC defenders Seth Sinovic and Jalil Anibaba are both eligible.

Sporting KC has until 4 p.m. Thursday to re-sign Sinovic or lose his rights in the draft, though Sinovic has the choice to opt-out of the Re-Entry process. The club previously announced its intentions to allow Anibaba to go into the Re-Entry Draft.

This story was originally published December 7, 2015 at 8:44 PM with the headline "Sporting KC midfielder Paulo Nagamura among MLS’ inaugural free agency class."