Sporting Kansas City announced today that the club has exercised contract options on the following five players ahead of the 2021 MLS season: Amadou Dia, Felipe Hernandez, Gadi Kinda, Johnny Russell and Graham Smith.
Sporting have declined contract options for Eric Dick, Wan Kuzain, Winston Reid and Richard Sanchez. Matt Besler is now out of contract with the club.
Sporting are currently in discussions with Roger Espinoza, Gerso Fernandes, Felipe Gutierrez and Erik Hurtado regarding their futures with the club. These discussions began following the conclusion of Sporting’s 2020 season.
Sporting now have 20 players under contract for the 2021 season: the five players whose contract options were exercised plus the 15 players who were already under contract in 2021. For a full list of Sporting’s offseason roster moves, visit SportingKC.com/tracker.
Sporting KC players under contract in 2021
- Goalkeepers (2): Tim Melia, John Pulskamp
- Defenders (7): Amadou Dia, Andreu Fontas, Jaylin Lindsey, Luis Martins, Roberto Puncec, Graham Smith, Graham Zusi
- Midfielders (5): Gianluca Busio, Cam Duke, Felipe Hernandez, Gadi Kinda, Ilie Sanchez
- Forwards (6): Tyler Freeman, Wilson Harris, Alan Pulido, Johnny Russell, Daniel Salloi, Khiry Shelton
The calendar of Major League Soccer’s offseason roster-building events is listed below. Sporting will be exempt from having any players selected in the 2020 MLS Expansion Draft on Dec. 15, which will see expansion club Austin FC add up to five players to its roster for the 2021 season.
MLS Offseason Roster Mechanisms
- Sunday, Dec. 13: Half-day trade window (8 a.m. to 12 p.m. CT)
- Tuesday, Dec. 15: MLS Expansion Draft (5 p.m. CT)
- Wednesday, Dec. 16: End-of-Year Waivers (12 p.m. CT)
- Wednesday, Dec. 16: Free Agency opens (12 p.m. CT)
- Thursday, Dec. 17: Re-Entry Process, Stage 1 (12 p.m. CT)
- Tuesday, Dec. 22: Re-Entry Process, Stage 2 (12 p.m. CT)