KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Don't go waving goodbye to Uri Rosell just yet.
A tweet from CNN's John Sinnott sent the rumor mill into high gear on Wednesday when he reported that Sporting Kansas City's star defensive midfielder, a product of FC Barcelona's youth academy, will head back across the Atlantic to join Sporting Clube de Portugal during the summer transfer window.
But while Sporting KC get inquiries about their players on a regular basis, manager and technical director Peter Vermes said Wednesday night that they have no plans to sell Rosell to the Lisbon-based powerhouse or to anyone else.
“I can tell you that I've had I don't know how many offers on players over the course of the last six months,” Vermes told reporters after Sporting's 2-1 home loss to the Philadelphia Union. “And I could go on and on and on. Whether it's offers outside the country, or whether it's offers from other (MLS) teams for players on our team. And those rumors can be on a regular basis.
“Do teams make offers on guys? They do it all the time,” he added. “But we're not selling anybody right now, and nothing's happening right now.”
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Sporting KC have had two high-profile players leave for Europe in recent years, with midfielder Roger Espinoza going to Wigan Athletic after the 2012 season and winger Kei Kamara sold to Middlesbrough last summer after a loan spell with Norwich City earlier that year.
“Look, [Rosell’s] not a player that we want to move along,” club president Robb Heineman told Sporting's broadcast crew during halftime of Wednesday's match. “As we’ve done historically around guys like Roger or Kei, we entertain all offers, we talk to the player, we have a very open dialogue around what their intentions are, what their long-term plan is, and we’ve done the same thing with Uri.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
