Sporting KC Protects 12 Players Ahead of Expansion Draft
December 10, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Major League Soccer announced today that Sporting Kansas City has protected the following 12 players ahead of the 2024 MLS Expansion Draft on Wednesday:
Goalkeepers (1): Ryan Schewe
Defenders (5): Joaquin Fernandez, Tim Leibold, Logan Ndenbe, Dany Rosero, Robert Voloder
Midfielders (3): Zorhan Bassong, Memo Rodriguez, Erik Thommy
Forwards (3): Stephen Afrifa, William Agada, Alenis Vargas
In addition, the following four players from Sporting's 2024 roster are automatically protected as Homegrown Players age 25 and under: Ozzie Cisneros, Jake Davis, Ian James and John Pulskamp.
James, whose signing was announced on Friday alongside goalkeeper Jack Kortkamp, is included as an automatically protected Homegrown Player because he was formally added to Sporting's MLS roster prior to the end of the 2024 season. Kortkamp will not be added to the club's roster until Jan. 1, 2025.
The following 11 players from Sporting's 2024 roster will be eligible for selection by San Diego FC in the MLS Expansion Draft: Robert Castellanos, Danny Flores, Andreu Fontas, Tim Melia, Alan Pulido, Nemanja Radoja, Chris Rindov, Johnny Russell, Daniel Salloi, Khiry Shelton and Remi Walter.
The 2024 MLS Expansion Draft will stream live on SanDiegoFC.com at 9:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday. San Diego FC will add up to five players to the club's roster in preparation for its inaugural 2025 campaign. Per MLS Expansion Draft rules, only a single player can be drafted from any one club. Once one player has been claimed from a club's unprotected roster, that club is removed from the Expansion Draft and may not lose any further players. Clubs that have a player selected in the Expansion Draft will receive $50,000 in General Allocation Money.
The calendar of Major League Soccer's remaining offseason events and roster-building mechanisms is listed below.
MLS Offseason Events and Roster Mechanisms
Tuesday, Dec. 10: Concacaf Champions Cup Draw (6 p.m. CT)
Wednesday, Dec. 11: MLS Expansion Draft for San Diego FC (9:30 p.m. CT)
Dec. 11-14: College Showcase in San Diego
Thursday, Dec. 12: Free Agency begins (12 p.m. CT)
Thursday, Dec. 12: End-of-Year Waivers (4 p.m. CT)
Friday, Dec. 13: MLS Re-Entry Draft Stage 1 (12 p.m. CT)
Thursday, Dec. 19: MLS Re-Entry Draft Stage 2 (12 p.m. CT)
Friday, Dec. 20: MLS SuperDraft 2025 presented by adidas (time TBD)
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