FloFC continues its series looking at major difference-makers on the MLS trade market and what potential trades might be on the horizon, this time featuring Sporting KC defender Ike Opara.
Missed the first two installments of this series? Follow the links to read about Joao Plata and Haris Medunjanin.
Ike Opara, Sporting KC
Rumblings out of Kansas City indicate that Opara could be the second elite center back to be traded this offseason, after Kendall Waston:
Kidding aside, the Opara situation bears watching. Opara wants a new deal or trade, SKC unlikely to budge, already spending a LOT on CBs & won’t trade him cheaply. Vermes likes all his CB & could bench Opara. Several teams would LOVE to add Opara, but at what price? #StayTuned
— Ives Galarcep (@SoccerByIves) January 23, 2019
Opara’s contract demands exceeding those of SKC would be a bit surprising. It’s true that Sporting have money tied up in central defenders, but only three: Opara, Matt Besler and Andreu Fontas, a Spaniard who arrived in August. Fontas makes $1 million annually, a hefty salary that speaks to his projected role under Peter Vermes. It’s possible that SKC acquired him with the expectation of a contract conflict with Opara.
Sporting could get a nice bit of cash in a theoretical Opara deal. He’s only a year removed from the Defender of the Year award and looked like one of the best in the league again in 2018. Waston fetched $750,000 for Vancouver, and he’s two years older with some locker room baggage. Pretty much everyone should at least drop a line to Vermes.
We don’t know how much allocation money each team has at their disposal. (Make that info public, MLS!) That makes it difficult to discern the willingness and ability of clubs to explore an Opara trade. Watch out for Chicago, D.C. United and Orlando, in particular.
Opara could be the most valuable commodity on the MLS market now, barring some unexpected Hector Villalba deal. He could put a team over the edge.
Harrison Hamm is a sportswriter who covers American soccer and MLS for FloFC. He also covers sports for FanSided and The Comeback, and has freelanced for the Washington Post.