Sporting KC parts ways with defender Marcel de Jong

In five days, Sporting Kansas City will walk onto CenturyLink Field in Seattle, marking the official commencement of the 2016 season.

Until then, the club's roster remains an ever-changing entity.

As it prepares for its season opener, Sporting KC parted ways with defender Marcel de Jong on Tuesday, the same day coach Peter Vermes said the club is nearing an agreement with an unidentified forward.

De Jong agreed to terminate his contract after he was not invited to the second leg of preseason training camp last month in Tucson, Ariz. With Amadou Dia and Seth Sinovic vying for the starting left outside defender, the playing time for de Jong figured to be scarce.

"It just wound up being too many guys in the same position," Vermes said. "... He didn't necessarily fit in so well with the way we wanted to play. If the guy would've been great for us, you maybe would've looked at it differently."

Sporting KC explored the trade market for de Jong but found it to be virtually nonexistent.

One player out.

Another could be on the way in.

Vermes said he is nearing an agreement with a foreign player who would add some scoring punch to an offense that lost the firepower of wing Krisztian Nemeth earlier this offseason. Currently, Dom Dwyer is the only true central froward on the roster outside of Daniel Salloi, a 19-year-old homegrown product who has never played in an MLS match.

Sporting KC added league veteran forward Kenny Cooper to its preseason camp as a trialist, but it elected not to offer him a contract.

After the departure of de Jong on Tuesday, the club's roster stands at 25 players. The league maximum is 28.

This story was originally published March 1, 2016 at 9:49 AM with the headline "Sporting KC parts ways with defender Marcel de Jong."