Thursday, January 17, 2013

Sporting KC Select Mikey Lopez

Sporting KC only had 1 Superdraft pick, but they certainly made the most of it.  Sporting selected Generation Adidas midfielder, Mikey Lopez from the University of North Carolina. 

This in my opinion is a great pick for KC.  Lopez wasn't really expected to fall anywhere close to KC at the 14th spot.  He's a central midfielder that fits a need that I felt KC needed to fill this offseason adding depth there, so from that regard it's very good.  Lopez is 19 years old currently, turning 20 next month.  He's also a member of the US U-20 team and is currently part of the same camp that Jon Kempin is currently attending down in Mexico.  He's a defensive minded midfielder that may in the long run be able to help fill the void left by Roger Espinoza and Julio Cesar.

With Lopez being a Generation Adidas player he won't count against the salary cap for Sporting KC which is a big bonus for KC this season.  And while he might miss time while being with the U20's he'll be competitive games that way which will be a bonus for KC.

Last weekend at the Combine, Lopez had said that he wanted to go to Chivas, because "from what I have heard of Chivas USA, I like what they want to do."

But I really don't think he'll hate the idea of coming to KC, with the style of play that Peter Vermes employees.

Here's a video of his goal at the Combine.


1 comment:

Nathan Martin said...

A younger, cheaper Paulo Nagamura with higher upside, I'll take it.