Sporting Kansas City made it official on Tuesday, when they announced that they acquired 22-year-old Chilean striker Diego Rubio on loan as a Young Designated Player.
Rubio will occupy an international spot on SKC’s roster pending receipt of his International Transfer Certificate and P-1 Visa. The move was first reported last week by The Kansas City Star.
Rubio comes to Kansas City from Spanish Segunda club Real Valladolid, where he had zero goals in 14 appearances across all competitions in the 2015-16 season. He has recorded 37 goals and 15 assists since turning pro with Chilean club Colo Colo in 2011.
"We are excited to bring Rubio to the club," Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes said in a statement released by the club. "We have a lot of games coming up in a short amount of time so it will be important to get him integrated into our team and see how he performs on the field."
A native of Santiago, Chile, Rubio played for 18-time Primeira Liga champion Sporting Clube de Portugal from 2011-2015. He managed just one goal in 20 appearances for the first-team, but did have a good deal of success with the club’s reserve side, scoring 22 goals in 52 games for Sporting B.
During his time at Sporting, Rubio was loaned to Romanian club Pandurii Targu Jiu in 2013 and Norwegian side Sandnes Ulf in 2014, where he led the team with eight goals in the top-flight Tippeligaen. He returned to Portugal for the 2014-15 campaign, finishing seventh in the Segunda Liga with 14 goals as Sporting B fell four points short of the second division title.
Rubio has earned three caps for the Chilean national team, all coming in 2011. He appeared in eight matches at the Under-20 level in 2012 and 2013, including three starts at the 2013 South American Youth Football Championship.
Sporting Kansas City, who beat the Seattle Sounders, 1-0, at CenturyLink Field on Sunday, will face the Vancouver Whitecaps in their 2016 home opener at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday (7:30 pm ET, MLS LIVE).
