TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Signing
Sporting Kansas City has acquired central midfielder Gadi Kinda on a one-year loan from Beitar Jerusalem of the Israeli Premier League, the club announced in a Thursday release.
SKC used Targeted Allocation Money to complete the loan, which will come with an option for the club to exercise a permanent transfer at the end of the 2020 campaign.
"Gadi is a central midfielder who plays box to box and has a great engine," Sporting Kansas City manager and sporting director Peter Vermes said in a team release. "He has good attacking qualities in the final third and his defensive responsibilities are very well engrained in him. We think Gadi will fit well into the way that we play and look forward to welcoming him to the team."
Kinda, 25, is a longtime veteran of the Israeli top flight, featuring in over 200 matches since 2011, most with FC Ashdod, where he scored 12 goals in 160 appearances across seven and a half seasons. The attacker spent last season in Jerusalem, where he finished fourth in the league with seven goals and also led the team with four assists.
Kinda was born in Ethiopia but immigrated to Israel at the age of three. He has represented Israel at the U-18, U-19 and U-21 levels and was selected to the senior team for UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying, although he still has yet to earn his first senior cap.
He'll join SKC in Arizona, where the club is currently going through preseason training ahead of its MLS season opener against the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place on Feb. 29.
