KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Barring any setbacks, it seems certain Sporting Kansas City will sign at least one player before the end of the transfer deadline on Friday.
Manager Peter Vermes played coy during his weekly press conference on Thursday, acknowledging that he was working diligently on adding the final pieces to the puzzle but also resisting the urge to say names before all the details were finalized.
“We are really trying,” Vermes said. “Believe me, I would to love to announce a couple things right now. We’re really close.”
Two players that certainly fall under that banner are Omar Colley, a teenage defender from Gambia who has been training with the team since preseason, and Aurélien Collin, a French defender who has been with the team for the last three weeks as he waits for a contractual issue with his Portuguese club to be resolved.
Reports out of Gambia this week indicated that Colley’s club was seeking compensation from Kansas City while Collin (pictured, right) was still waiting for a mediator’s ruling that could release him from his current contract with Vitória Setubal.
“Those are two guys that we are really trying hard to get done before the end of this transfer window,” Vermes said. “The issue is that we are still dealing with paperwork from those countries. It’s coming down to the wire.”
Another name that has surfaced recently in Spanish-language reports is 20-year-old Colombian striker Cristian Nazarith.
Nazarith has played for Independiente Santa Fe in his home country for the past two seasons after starting his career with América de Cali. He has also played for Colombia’s U-17 and U-20 national teams, scoring scoring three goals at the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
When asked whether Kansas City had any interest in signing the player, Vermes admitted that he knew who Nazarith was but dodged making any definitive statement regarding the club’s interest.
“I know who he is,” Vermes said. “He’s a good player.”
Bravo has surgery in Los Angeles
Designated Player Omar Bravo had surgery on Tuesday in Los Angeles to correct a sports hernia injury.
Vermes said the issue began prior to the season’s opening game against Chivas USA but did not become serious until it flared up again during the first half of last week’s US Open Cup qualifier against Houston.
Bravo was removed at halftime of that game, and Vermes said the team’s doctors recommended the issue be corrected before it became more serious. Bravo is expected to be out four to six weeks.
“[The doctors] said it was the right thing to do to get it done now because where it is right now is not that bad,” Vermes said. “The time frame on recovery is going to be much shorter than if we had waited.”
