KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Sometimes it seems as though Sporting Kansas City president Robb Heineman just can’t help himself.
After hinting at various acquisitions and player movement throughout the offseason, Heineman dropped the names of two more Sporting trialists via Twitter on Monday night, leaving manager Peter Vermes with questions to answer Tuesday at training.
Vermes confirmed that 19-year-old defender Calum Butcher, formerly with Tottenham Hotspur, and 22-year-old striker Adda Djeziri, who most recently saw time for Vejle BK in Denmark, had joined the club on trial along with Brazilian defender Júlio César Santos.
“They’ve proven right away that they have the quality that we are looking for,” Vermes said. “We’re going to find out over the next few days and then early into next week if they are going to stick around for sure.”
At 6-foot-5, Butcher stands out simply because of his physical attributes. According to Vermes, the defender can play either centrally or on the right side.
Although he never made an appearance for Spurs, Butcher was on the bench for the club’s UEFA Cup match against Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk in February of 2009. He joined English League Two team Barnet on loan later that year.
Vermes said the player, with whom SKC had been in touch over the past year, was out of contract and had expressed a desire to come to the United States.
“[He’s an] interesting kid,” Vermes said of Butcher. “Great presence and size for the position. The one thing that is interesting is that, going through the Tottenham school of football, he plays out of the back. He’s not just lumping the ball forward. He plays. He’s good on the ball.”
Like Butcher, Djeziri also possesses impressive size, if not a similar pedigree.
The 6-foot-3 winger started his professional career at Randers FC before embarking on short stints at Leicester City and Portsmouth. He returned to Denmark in 2008, suiting up for FC Hjørring and Vejle, the previous club of current SKC ‘keeper Jimmy Nielsen.
“He’s [Robin] van Persie if you look at him,” Vermes said. “He’s tall, he’s left-footed and he can do some damage. We know a lot about him. We know his background. He’s been bumped around a little bit. He was a big talent coming out, and whatever those cases were, didn’t work.
“He’s here now, and I think it will be interesting to see him go through preseason with us and how he fits in.”
Three other trialists in a similar mold to Butcher and Djeziri will join the team in Arizona.
Omar Colley is a young Gambian defender who trained with the team last August while Daneil Cyrus and Sheldon Bateau are both defenders identified at the club’s combine earlier this offseason in Trinidad and Tobago.
