No jokes for Sporting Kansas City. Bolstering their roster with the signing of Spanish attacking midfielder Manu García, the team brings in a European-experienced talent with proven technical ability. A former player with Aris Thessaloniki, he's also played his football with Manchester City, Alavés, Toulouse, and NAC Breda, while he has signed through 2027 with an option for 2028. This is, though, much more than just another signing.
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García will take up the Designated Player role with 19 goals and 35 assists in his career, making him responsible for being one of the offensive mainstays in the team. He earned a cap for the Spanish national team and was called into the key cadre in the U-21 European Championship.
A new piece in a revamped attack
Sporting KC is remodeling its attacking unit. Before García, the club had already signed forward Dejan Joveljić in a historic deal-the first cash-for-player trade in MLS history. Those two will now join forces with Dániel Sallói, Erik Thommy, and Shapi Suleymanov for an attack that promises goals and creativity.
Should García and Joveljić hit the right note from the word go, then SKC may very well boast of one of the most formidable-looking offenses in the league. These will be teams that can penetrate deep-lying defenses and establish authority in matches.
How this head coach knits these latest additions into one coherent whole-that is where growing speculation rests. Above all, such tactical versatility may be exactly what a still largely adapting MLS calls for in teams.
Euro Experience, new MLS challenges
MLS is not a retirement league anymore; instead, it's becoming a go-to destination for players in their primes looking for new challenges. Manu García shall prove to be an example, with 27-year-old players still at the peak of their careers arriving in the United States on a mission-evident to make immediate impacts.
It started for him at Manchester City, then Spain, then France, and then the Netherlands and Greece-one would say this is where he developed his game. He also honed and expanded his game at each of those stops: learning to create in various conditions and under whatever circumstances presented a different playing style. Now with MLS, comes a new task: shining brightly in a league that becomes deeper by the day.
Is Sporting KC ready for takeoff?
The tough challenges are on from the beginning of the 2025 season, where the opponent is Inter Miami CF in the Concacaf Champions Cup on February 18th, an early test for this revamped squad. Days later, on February 22nd, they open their MLS campaign against Austin FC.
There's no time for a slow adjustment, and García, along with the rest of the new signings, needs to gel fast and start making results immediately. Pressure on the Spanish midfielder is huge, but so is his talent. Provided that he will settle in and lift the general level of his teammates, Sporting KC might just turn into one of the most hazardous teams in the league.