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MLS Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC Acquires Garcia and Suleymanov

February 3, 2025 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Sporting Kansas City announced today that the club has acquired 27-year-old Spanish midfielder Manu Garcia and 25-year-old Russian winger Shapi Suleymanov in transfers from Greek side Aris Thessaloniki.

Garcia joins Sporting as a Designated Player, signing a three-year MLS contract through 2027 with a club option for 2028. Suleymanov has signed a two-year MLS contract through 2026 with club options in 2027 and 2028. Both players will occupy international spots on Sporting's roster, pending receipt of their International Transfer Certificates and P1 visas.

Garcia has amassed 21 goals and 40 assists in nearly 300 professional matches, playing in the top divisions of England, France, Netherlands, Spain and Greece while also representing the Spanish Men's National Team and the U-16 through U-21 youth national teams. The attacking midfielder joins Sporting KC after spending the last two and a half seasons at Aris in Super League Greece, where he was the club's record signing and had four goals during the first half of the 2024-25 campaign. On the international stage, Garcia debuted for Spain's senior national team in June 2021-starting in a 4-0 friendly win over Lithuania ahead of UEFA Euro 2020-after previously competing in the 2021 UEFA Under-21 Championship earlier that year.

In nearly eight years as a professional, Suleymanov has recorded 55 goals and 46 assists while making over 300 appearances in Russia, Turkey, Israel and Greece. The left-footed winger boasts experience in Europe's premier club competitions-including the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Conference League-and competed as a youth international at the U-16 through U-21 levels.

MANU GARCIA

Born in Oviedo, Spain, Garcia developed as a youth at Astur CF and Sporting Gijon prior to joining the academy of European powerhouse Manchester City as a 16-year-old in early 2014. He rose from the U-18 to the U-21 ranks before landing his first-team debut on Sept. 22, 2015, replacing Sergio Aguero in a League Cup victory at Sunderland. Garcia scored his first Man City goal the following month to seal another League Cup win over Crystal Palace, and received a winner's medal months later as City were crowned tournament champions. He earned his English Premier League debut on March 5, 2016, replacing Yaya Toure in midfield.

After re-signing for Man City, Garcia was loaned to two clubs for the 2016-17 season-newly promoted Spanish La Liga side Alaves and Dutch outfit NAC Breda. He played an instrumental role in NAC's promotion to the top-flight Eredivisie-tallying two goals and nine assists in half a season-and continued his loan spell at the Dutch club for 2017-18, appearing in all 34 league matches. The 2018-19 campaign saw Garcia go on loan to Toulouse in the French Ligue 1, where he was a regular midfield starter and scored two goals in the Coupe de France.

In July 2019, Garcia transferred from Man City to Sporting Gijon on a club-record transfer fee. He made 76 appearances for Gijon over the next two seasons, recording four goals and 11 assists, before going on loan to La Liga's Alaves in 2021-22.

Garcia was involved in another club-record transfer in July 2022 when he signed for Aris in Super League Greece. He participated in his first European club competition during 2022-23 UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying and bagged his first professional hat-trick in a 3-0 home win over Volos on Jan. 21, 2023. Garcia guided Aris to its second consecutive fifth-place finish in 2023-24 and a run to the 2024 Greek Football Cup Final, where his side suffered a last-minute 1-0 loss to Panathinaikos.

Garcia arrives to Sporting on the heels of an excellent 2024-25 season at Aris. He had a goal and an assist to spearhead a 2-1 victory over Greek juggernaut Olympiacos on Sept. 21 and scored a dramatic winner eight days later to secure a 1-0 away win at reigning league champion PAOK Salonika. The playmaker delivered another goal and assist to spark a 2-0 triumph against Kallithea on Oct. 20 and notched his fourth goal of the year at Panetolikos on Nov. 9.

As a youth international, Garcia first represented Spain at the U-16 level in September 2013. He gained U-17 experience in 2015 and the following year scored for the Spain U-19s to cement a 2-0 win over a French team led by Kylian Mbappe. In March 2017, Garcia participated in the qualifying rounds of the 2017 UEFA Under-19 Championship.

Garcia had a leading role in Spain's run to the 2021 UEFA Under-21 Championship semifinals. After playing four matches in the qualifying round from 2019 to 2020, he started in four of his five tournament appearances as Spain finished atop its group and claimed a 2-1 extra-time win over Croatia in the quarterfinals. After starting in a 1-0 semifinal loss to Portugal on June 3, Garcia received his first call to Spain's senior national team and started in a 4-0 home triumph against Lithuania on June 8 in Leganes.

SHAPI SULEYMANOV

Suleymanov developed in the FC Krasnodar academy and broke into the club's first team as a 17-year-old in 2017. That summer, he marked his second career Krasnodar appearance with a 93rd-minute goal to seal a 2-1 victory over Danish side Lyngby in 2017-18 Europa League qualifying, thus becoming the youngest Russian player to score in a UEFA club competition. The same season saw Suleymanov shine for the Krasnodar U-19s as he led the 2017-18 UEFA Youth League with six assists in the tournament.

Suleymanov enjoyed a breakout season with the first team in 2018-19, finishing eighth in the Russian Premier League with eight goals and adding three goals in the Europa League, including a decisive free kick in the Round of 32 to help Krasnodar eliminate Bayer Leverkusen and a goal in the Round of 16 against Valencia. On March 31, 2019, he bagged his first Krasnodar brace to spark a 5-0 triumph over his hometown club Anzhi Makhachkala.

The following season saw Suleymanov strike twice in a 3-2 road win at Portuguese powerhouse FC Porto in the UEFA Champions League, highlighting another strong campaign in which the winger helped Krasnodar to its second consecutive third-place finish in the Russian Premier League. In 2020-21, Suleymanov again scored in the Champions League-converting in a narrow 3-2 group stage loss at Sevilla-and eclipsed five total goals for the third straight year.

Suleymanov spent the next two seasons on loan, joining Giresunspor of the Turkish Super Lig in 2021-22 and Hapoel Be'er Sheva of the Israeli Premier League in 2022-23. He tallied three goals and three assists as a regular starter at Giresunspor and recorded five goals and five assists as a key contributor at Hapoel Be'er Sheva, where he helped the club to a second-place finish and qualification for the 2023-24 Europa League.

Suleymanov was loaned from Hapoel Be'er Sheva to Aris for the 2023-24 season and made a strong impression in his debut campaign, notching six goals and four assists across all competitions. As an integral attacking threat alongside Garcia, he made a permanent transfer to Aris last summer and had one goal and one assist in his first 12 matches of the 2024-25 season.

As a Russian youth international, Suleymanov had six goals and three assists at the U-16 level from 2014 to 2015. He added two goals as a U-17 player, including one in UEFA Under-17 Championship qualifying, before making 12 appearances for the U-18s from 2016 to 2017. He continued to ascend the youth ranks with two goals for the U-19s in late 2017 and three goals for the U-21s from 2019 to 2020, including two in 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying.

Sporting's roster will continue to take shape in the buildup to the 2025 season, which kicks off Feb. 18 with a monumental showdown against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF in Round One of the Concacaf Champions Cup at Children's Mercy Park. Sporting KC season tickets, half-season ticket plans and other ticket packages are available at SportingKC.com.

For a full list of the club's offseason roster moves, click here.

Sporting KC Roster as of Feb. 3, 2025

Goalkeepers (3): Jack Kortkamp, John Pulskamp, Ryan Schewe

Defenders (7): Joaquin Fernandez, Ian James, Tim Leibold, Logan Ndenbe, Dany Rosero, Khiry Shelton, Robert Voloder

Midfielders (7): Jacob Bartlett, Zorhan Bassong, Jake Davis, Manu Garcia, Nemanja Radoja, Memo Rodriguez, Erik Thommy

Forwards (7): Stephen Afrifa, William Agada, Dejan Joveljic, Daniel Salloi, Shapi Suleymanov, Mason Toye, Alenis VargasTransaction: Sporting Kansas City (MLS) acquires midfielder Manu Garcia and forward Shapi Suleymanov in transfers from Aris Thessaloniki (Super League Greece).

VITALS

Manu Garcia (MAH-noo)

Number: 21

Position: Midfielder

Birthdate: 1/2/1998 (27 years old)

Height: 5-7

Weight: 150 lbs.

Birthplace: Oviedo, Spain

Hometown: Oviedo, Spain

Previous Club: Aris Thessaloniki (Greece)

Instagram: @manugarcia8

VITALS

Shapi Suleymanov (SHAH-pea soo-lee-MAH-nov)

Number: 93

Position: Forward

Birthdate: 12/16/1999 (25 years old)

Height: 5-7

Weight: 146 lbs.

Birthplace: Makhachkala, Russia

Hometown: Makhachkala, Russia

Previous Club: Aris Thessaloniki (Greece)

Instagram: @shapi_777

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