Sporting Kansas City should play Talking Heads “Burning Down the House” ahead of every press conference. Truly, the club has seen no shortage of drama over the past two years, replete with boardroom knife-fights, leadership comings-and-goings, a big coaching change and a wholesale gutting of the roster.
The Coaching Change
It started in March 2025 when Peter Vermes, the longest tenured head coach in MLS, was abruptly terminated. While the polite language stated the two “mutually agreed to part ways,” everyone knows he was shitcanned after the team was winless in their first six games (1 draw, 5 losses). Indeed, if not for the sheer dumpster fire of LA Galaxy, SKC would have been dead last and eating from the Western Conference’s Wooden Spoon for most of the 2025 season. As it turned out, they would finish in last place after a 0-0 draw against Houston allowed the Galaxy to pip them into 14th. Interim coach Kerry Zevagnin barely made any impact in his 28 games in charge, eking out a 25% win percentage and a -18 goal differential.
The Regime Change
Sporting was already a club that was transitioning after the COVID pandemic. They brought on new investment from quarterback Patrick Mahomes and local business moguls like Peter Mallouk early in the decade. They hired sporting director Mike Burns in July 2024. But when longtime ownership partner Paul Curran died back in 2024, those changes began to accelerate. The Illig family took over most of the club’s day-to-day operations. Peter Mallouk began getting more involved as well. It is believed that the hiring of David Lee, a New York City FC executive, as sporting director at the tail end of the 2025 season, was under his influence.
In January 2026 it was announced that Mallouk had acquired 80% of the club, purchasing 71% of the Illig’s stake, making him the undisputed jefe. Plans that had been in motion subtly throughout the 2025 season then suddenly kicked into gear. Sead Karaselimovic, who spent seven years with SKC in player recruitment and development, quietly departed. Raphaël Wicky, formerly of Swiss side Young Boys, was hired as the new head coach. On Apr. 2 Mike Burns was let go. Lee and Mallouk were now firmly holding the reins.
The Designated Player Change
It’s important to remember that throughout all this change from 2024 though now, Sporting Kansas City has basically sucked. Outside of an appearance in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final in 2024 (which they lost), the team never finished above 27th place. The only two bright spots were midfielder Manu García and forward Dejan Joveljić, both Designated Players. This week, SKC parted ways with both of them.
Manu García
García came first. Absent from their 2-0 loss to Colorado, Wicky replied to a question about his status: “We had some discussions with him about his future in recent days, and so I decided it was best not to involve him in the game tonight.” Two days later, the team announced his contract was mutually terminated. They also announced the signing of winger André Luiz from Olympiacos for a club-record $18M. Pretty obvious what was happening there, huh.
García’s stats were hardly earthmoving; he scored 4 goals and had 14 assists over a 47 game span. He often played the no.10, but his natural position was the no.8, less an out-and-out attacker and more interested in build-up and possession. García wasn’t a wash-out or a failure, he was simply a remnant of an older philosophy that had to make way for the new.
Dejan Joveljić
Joveljić is a more complicated scenario. His move to the Seattle Sounders was first leaked by Tom Bogert yesterday. Today the details were confirmed: a $6M cash deal. I’m sure that money goes a long way in easing the sting of Luiz’s cost, but only time will tell if this was a wise move. In 2025 Joveljić scored 18 goals. Over 20 games this season he added another 8. Both totals represent 40% of the team’s totals. That’s a LOT of offensive firepower to replace. Rumors circulated SKC was dragging their feet on committing to Joveljić for the long term, facilitating his desire to move.
A Roster Firesale
Since the end of the 2025 season, SKC has signed 17 new players, nine of those defenders. Sadly, it hasn’t helped them. They’re last in the league in nearly every key defensive statistic: 51 goals conceded, 9.8 shots per game and 4.0 shots on target. Offensively they’re not much better, sitting 28th in possession (45.3%) and dead last in goals scored (20). It’s this last data point that makes trading Jovelić all the more head-scratching.
Sporting Kansas City is clearly trying to improve, and spending handsomely. They’ve spent more than any other MLS club this summer transfer window: $20M. And so far all they have to show for their investment is more losses.
