Is Mohamed Salah about to join one of the worst teams in MLS history?

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Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

Sporting Kansas City have surprisingly moved into pole position to sign Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah.

The Egypt international is a free agent after he reached an agreement with his long-time club to have his contract terminated on 30 June. Salah is coming off a disappointing season and wanted a change of scenery after spending the best part of a decade at Liverpool.

Speculation over his next club has been rampant in recent months. The most obvious destination for Salah would be the Saudi Pro League. Clubs from the Kingdom have tried to make him the face of their top division for years.

Saudi clubs are ready to pay big money to sign Salah, although due to his age and the Pro League's shift to a more youth-focused approach, a transfer to the Middle East may no longer hold the same financial appeal as it did when Al-Ittihad tried to sign the 34-year-old in 2023.

It is therefore unsurprising that The Athletic reports that Salah's preference would be to remain in Europe. However, he is also fielding strong interest from Major League Soccer.

Salah to... Sporting Kansas City?

MLS clubs hold a long-standing interest in signing the Egyptian King. Last year, the Chicago Fire attempted to sign him before he ended up penning a contract extension with Liverpool.

When Salah announced his departure from the Reds in March, the obvious link to make was with San Diego, who are owned by Egyptian-British billionaire Mohamed Mansour. There has been latent interest from San Diego, but it seemingly hasn't evolved beyond exploratory talks.

New York City FC were also previously rumoured as a potential destination. They are opening up their new Etihad Park in Queens in 2027 and have the financial means to complete a deal for Salah, thanks to the backing from City Football Group.

This would have been a controversial move given the rivalry that has been forged between Liverpool and CFG-owned Man City over the past decade. NYCFC chiefs admitted that there was interest in Salah, but updates have been few and far between.

Instead, Sporting Kansas City have now surprisingly emerged as the MLS franchise with the best chances of signing Salah. Although a deal is still described as a "longshot," the interest is genuine.

A move to Missouri would be remarkable for Salah because SKC have played like one of the worst teams in MLS history this year after a tumultuous offseason.

SKC managed two wins and a draw from their last five games prior to MLS's World Cup break to somewhat change the mood around the club, but they nevertheless remain rooted to the bottom of the Western Conference. They have taken just 11 points from 14 matches.

Once a bona fide powerhouse in MLS, SKC have steadily declined over the past half-decade. They have not won a trophy since 2017 and did not make the playoffs in three of the last four seasons.

SKC's decline has been akin to that of Man Utd in the Premier League. Their all-powerful long-time head coach Peter Vermes departed last year after the club failed to keep up with the times.

Lacking a proper, modern recruitment department, SKC had to embark on a massive rebuild in the offseason. Ownership has committed to spending more money on high-quality players, but it is a process that takes time.

SKC failed to meaningfully improve their team over the winter, and they are now trying to make up for it by going big this summer. Owner Peter Mallouk, the son of Egyptian immigrants, seemingly confirmed the Salah pursuit on social media.

"Promises made will be promises kept," he wrote in response to the links with the Egyptian. "Lots of conversations happening. One way or another, this team will be significantly better in the second half [of this season], much better by the sprint season [spring 2027].

SKC are poised to make at least one marquee signing this summer. In addition to Salah, they are currently in talks over deals for Toulouse winger Yann Gboho and Olympiacos forward Andre Luiz. Both are expected to cost in excess of €15 million ($18-20m).

Sporting currently have two Designated Players (DPs) in Dejan Joveljic and Manu Garcia after opting for the U22 roster construction model in the offseason - despite not having a single U22 Initiative player.

They can switch to the other model this summer, which would permit them to add another DP. However, they would still only be able to sign one of Salah, Gboho or Luiz unless they manage to offload Joveljic or Garcia. Neither contract can be bought down, hence the need to sell.

Regardless of whether SKC manage to sign Salah, major changes are coming in a bid to avoid going down as one of the worst teams in MLS history.

Written by

Tom Weber | Writer

Tom Weber is an experienced, multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer as part of his freelance work for FootballTransfers.

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