KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Before he found success while on loan to Orlando City SC, Dom Dwyer had a loan deal nixed that would have taken him back across the Atlantic. Now, after emerging as Sporting Kansas City's No. 1 choice at center forward, the young Englishman is talking transatlantic once again.
After Sporting's shootout victory over Real Salt Lake in Saturday's MLS Cup title game, Dwyer told English newspaper The Telegraph that he was set to go on loan in January to an undisclosed Championship side with an option to make the move permanent.
But on Monday, following Sporting's post-Cup celebration with fans, Dwyer sounded a less definitive note.
“I'm just waiting to hear more,” he said. “I've had interest from a few teams. Right now I'm just enjoying it, listening to stuff. It should be a fun offseason.”
Last offseason, after playing sparingly in his rookie year with Sporting, Dwyer trained with Scottish Premier League side St. Mirren and was hopeful of being loaned there. Sporting rejected the deal, though, and Dwyer was loaned instead to USL PRO affiliate Orlando City SC.
He blossomed there, scoring 15 goals in league competition before his recall and adding four more in Orlando's 7-4 victory over Charlotte when he went back for the USL PRO championship game. After returning to Kansas City, he had four goals across all competitions – including the game-winner against Houston in the Eastern Conference Championship, putting Sporting through to their first MLS Cup final since 2004.
Dwyer stopped short of calling any of his potential loan destinations a significant upgrade from St. Mirren, though.
“I don't know about that,” he said. “They're both – all of them are good clubs. I don't know exactly what's going on yet. I just have to wait and see.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
