Sporting Kc Sign Paulo Nagamura From Chivas USA

To put a name to a face, Paulo Nagamura pictured above. - via mlssoccer.com

Sporting Kc have signed Brazilian midfielder Paulo Nagamura from Chivas USA in exchange for a first round supplemental draft pick that Sporting Kc originally received when they traded Ryan Smith to Chivas earlier last week. Sporting Kc will however, keep their 3rd round pick that they received upon selling Smith. This transfer brings much needed depth to a midfield that had lost 3 of it's members just 6 days ago.

Paulo joins former teammate Shavar Thomas (Chivas USA 2007-2009) in the Sporting Kc camp. The former Arsenal youth player will also join fellow Brazilian Julio Cesar. So there are a few connections between Paulo and the rest of the players, but not many.Finding chemistry with the rest of the players should be no problem though since Nagamura fits perfectly into Sporting Kc's 3 man midfield.

While I know he's a MLS cup winner and has been a solid veteran for Chivas USA I don't think he'll get too much first team action at the start of the season seeing that Sporting Kc's main midfield trio was Zusi, Espinoza, and Cesar in 2011. But a lot can change in pre-season, players get injured, fall out of favor with technical staff, lose form. But still, with Sporting Kc's "mystery" Spanish DP still yet to be announced I just don't see it happening.

Sporting Kc Sell Ryan Smith

Sporting Kc have sold Ryan Smith to Chivas USA for a 1st and 3rd round pick in the 2012 supplemental draft.  Some fans have complained but essentially we sold a player that was not playing any games for us for 2 supplemental draft picks. While I would have rather had the allocation money from a European team it's a fair trade for everyone involved.

The weird thing about this trade is that reportedly the main reason for Smith's abrupt departure in mid-summer was because of "family reasons". And moving to LA would make the travel distance to England longer, but I can see why LA might of been more elusive. Plus, Chivas USA has a very scarce amount of high-impact players, maybe Smith wanted to be the star of a under-par Chivas side?

Either way Smith did some great things for KC in his time here, he brought a high-level of football to KC that people around these parts hadn't seen in awhile and it'll be quite interesting when/if Chivas comes to LSP to see what type of reaction he will get from the Sporting KC crowd.