Sporting Kansas City's roundabout Homegrown signing of Hungarian youth international Daniel Salloi is the latest move in a busy offseason that now finds Sporting with 29 players signed, 28 roster spots available – and the MLS SuperDraft yet to take place.
Still, manager and technical director Peter Vermes said his club isn't done looking for talent.
“There'll be a few more players coming down the pike here,” Vermes told reporters during a conference call on Thursday, shortly after the announcement of Salloi's signing from Hungarian side Ujpest FC.
Salloi was on an amateur contract there, making his top-flight debut last July after returning to Hungary to finish school.
“Obviously, there could be a draft pick tomorrow," Vermes said. "At the same time, I'm sure you'll see a few more players acquired and added to the roster here in the short term. I really don't want to talk about names or positions just right now because we're still finalizing some of the documentation.”
Sporting have the 11th-overall pick in Thursday's SuperDraft (1 pm ET, live stream on MLSsoccer.com), but do not have a second-round pick after trading it for former goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum prior to the 2014 season.
“It all depends on what players are available,” Vermes said. “It depends on what kind of deals might be out there. We'll keep ourselves open to all those opportunities. It's very hard to make a decision unless you know what's in front of you, but for sure we'll be open to everything.”
Salloi's signing came just two days after Sporting re-upped midfielders Soni Mustivar and Paulo Nagamura. This offseason has also seen Sporting make veteran midfielder Justin Mapp the first free-agent signing under the new terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, trade for midfielder Brad Davis from longtime rival Houston Dynamo and return former defensive midfielder Lawrence Olum to the fold after a stint in Malaysia.
Salloi, a 19-year-old forward, came to the Kansas City area as an exchange student in 2014, at the club's invitation. Vermes and academy coach Istvan Urbanyi both played for Hungarian side Gyori Raba ETO, along with the forward's father, Istvan Salloi. That connection enabled Sporting to start the process of bringing Daniel Salloi into the academy and the Homegrown process, Vermes said.
“We felt that he really progressed as a player,” Vermes said. “He had to go back, based on the program that he was in, go back to Hungary and finish up a couple of things at school. We had the intention to see if we could sign him for the future.”
The younger Salloi, who now represents the fourth generation in his family to play professional soccer, finished his time at Ujpest with seven goals and four assists across all competitions. His signing addresses depth concerns at center forward, although Vermes did not say whether Salloi would spend 2016 with the senior team or be loaned to Sporting's new USL side, Swope Park Rangers.
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“I'm not a fortune teller,” he said. “I don't have a crystal ball. I can't make those predictions that way. But what I can say is that he has a lot of potential, and one of the things that I appreciated when he was in the academy is how fast he actually adapted and adjusted to the team – and at the same time, how easy he was to work with as a player on the field with his teammates. So he's got a great attitude. There's no doubt this is where he wants to be.
“I think all of those things will be a big help in him trying to get on the field as much as possible, and a lot of it's going to do with how he progresses through the year. But I'm hoping, like with any player, that he makes some big strides this year and he winds up getting some opportunities, that we get a chance to see him at that level.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
