The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sporting Kansas City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting Kansas City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 16 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sporting Kansas City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting Kansas City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sporting Kansas City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Jul 2040
Diego Barros falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Colorado Rapids? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 12 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The 89th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Alex Steffen decided nobody was going anywhere. San Diego Football Club had no time left to answer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting Kansas City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Jul 2040
Diego Barros falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ralph Priso and Sporting Kansas City agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Alex Steffen has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The words a physio says slowly. 30 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sporting Kansas City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting Kansas City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Christian Reyes has just signed for Sporting Kansas City, and for once the answer mattered.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
The words a physio says slowly. 37 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
331 appearances across 13 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Or Blorian was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The words a physio says slowly. 72 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ivan Herrera and Sporting Kansas City agree another 2 years.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Andrew Ferreira has his answer from Sporting Kansas City; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The words a physio says slowly. 82 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sporting Kansas City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.