If Roger Espinoza is coming back to Sporting Kansas City after a sojourn in England, it's now likely to be sooner rather than later.
On Monday, a Sporting representative confirmed multiple reports that the Honduran midfielder had been released from his contract with Wigan Athletic, which would open the way for a free transfer back to the club where he spent his first five professional seasons and helped Kansas City win the 2012 U.S. Open Cup.
No announcement of Espinoza's return was immediately pending, but Sporting hold Espinoza's MLS rights and have repeatedly expressed interest in bringing him back if they could do so without paying a transfer fee. With Espinoza slated to be under contract through the 2014-15 English season, Kansas City manager and technical director Peter Vermes said the club was prepared to wait until the summer window for his return if need be.
But on Monday, a tweet from club president Robb Heineman seemed to indicate that Sporting's interest was close to being rewarded several months early:
The 28-year-old Espinoza, a veteran of two World Cup campaigns with Los Catrachos, made the move to Wigan – then a member of the Premier League – after a star turn at the London Olympics in 2012.
His first season was marked by an FA Cup title – Espinoza went the full 90 in the Latics' 1-0 victory over Manchester City for their first major championship in club history – but Wigan were relegated to the Championship days later, and a string of subsequent managerial changes left Espinoza out of favor.
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
