Sporting Kansas City are leaving no stone unturned as they chart a new course.
With increased roster investment and an urgency to return the club to contention under majority owner Peter Mallouk, SKC are approaching their overhaul with, as sporting director David Lee put it at his Tuesday press conference, “nothing off the table.”
They have plenty of work ahead of them, sitting last in the Western Conference heading into Matchday 22's visit to Atlanta United for Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire (7 pm ET | Apple TV).
“I want to be really, really clear: Nobody is satisfied with where we are right now. Nobody,” Lee said this week. “And the goal and the directive from everybody that I’m responsible for and accountable for is to get this team competitive as quickly as we possibly can. That is what we’re working on every single day.
“We will do that the remainder of this window. We will do that in the next window. We will do that in the following window, and we will continue to do that until we get this team where it and our fans deserve it to be.”
Making a splash
Sporting KC's moves this summer have already offered a glimpse of that aggressive approach.
Shortly after buying out Designated Player midfielder Manu García, they acquired André Luiz for a club-record transfer fee. The 24-year-old Brazilian winger arrives from Greek powerhouse Olympiacos, joining an attack led by Serbian striker Dejan Joveljić.
“We knew we wanted to add a DP attacker, and so we went through a long list of players. But André Luiz was always one of our key targets,” Lee said. “I think he's an absolute elite athlete. I think he'll really help us in the transition game and being a threat in behind with his athleticism.
“He's got goals and assists. He can take players on 1-v-1. So I'm really excited for him to get here.”
Head coach Raphael Wicky believes Luiz fits the exact profile Sporting KC targeted.
“We were looking from the beginning for a winger with that type of profile: a left-footed winger, lots of pace, lots of 1-v-1 [ability],” Wicky said. “We believe that he will make this team much, much better and will help the team, and that his profile also fits really well in MLS.”
More to come?
Sporting KC still have an open DP slot and several U22 Initiative slots available, with Lee noting the club are actively pursuing a No. 10 and potentially another attacker.
Now, after breaking their transfer record, SKC appear willing to make another significant investment before the Secondary Transfer Window closes on Sept. 2.
“The reality is that there are not that many MLS teams that are paying transfer fees similar to the amount that we have done, and that we've said that we will do," Lee said.
"I think that puts us in the market for some of the most – hopefully the most — impactful players that we can find to come in, particularly in those DP areas."
Sporting KC's rebuild has been well underway since the winter, with 17 players already arriving for the club's first season under Lee and Wicky.
The work is far from done, and there's urgency to turn the tide.
“We are in a position where we must improve the team, but we have to make the right long-term decisions," Lee said. "What we cannot be in a position [of] is signing, particularly a DP, but any player that we don’t see as a big part of our future, where we’re going to need to solve another problem in six or 12 or 18 months’ time.”
