Sporting KC Protects 11 Players Ahead of Expansion Draft
Published on December 12, 2017 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
(Dec. 10, 2017) -- Major League Soccer announced today that Sporting Kansas City has protected the following 11 players ahead of the 2017 MLS Expansion Draft on Tuesday:
GK: Tim Melia
DEF: Matt Besler, Ike Opara, Graham Zusi
MID: Roger Espinoza, Ilie, Cristian Lobato, Jimmy Medranda, James Musa, Benny Feilhaber
FWD: Gerso
Gianluca Busio, Kevin Ellis, Erik Palmer-Brown and Daniel Salloi are automatically protected as Homegrown Players.
The following Sporting KC players will be eligible for selection:
GK: Andrew Dykstra, Alexander Tambakis, Adrian Zendejas
DEF: Saad Abdul-Salaam, Amer Didic, Seth Sinovic, Colton Storm
MID: Soni Mustivar
FWD: Kharlton Belmar, Latif Blessing, Cameron Iwasa, Kenwyne Jones, Cameron Porter, Diego Rubio, Soony Saad
MLS Expansion Draft rules required Sporting KC to protect two of the club's three international players who weren't automatically protected. Lobato and Musa are on the protected list, while Mustivar is draft-eligible.
Among the draft-eligible players, Iwasa, Jones, Mustivar, Porter and Tambakis are not under contract with Sporting KC in 2018. Palmer-Brown is also out of contract with the club.
Jones and Tambakis were acquired in a trade with Atlanta United FC earlier today in exchange for midfielder Kevin Oliveira, defender Tyler Pasher and a second-round draft pick in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft.
Los Angeles FC will select five players from the eligible MLS player pool during Tuesday's MLS Expansion Draft, which will begin at 1 p.m. CT. Only a single player can be drafted from any one club.
NOTE: Please refer to the club on first reference as Sporting Kansas City or Sporting KC. A charter member of Major League Soccer since 1996, Sporting KC has won four U.S. Open Cup titles (2004, 2012, 2015, 2017), two MLS Cup championships (2000, 2013) and one Supporters' Shield (2000).
-- SportingKC.com --
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