TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Signing
Sporting Kansas City have signed homegrown defender Kaveh Rad to a first-team contract, the club announced Monday.
Rad becomes the 16th homegrown player in club history, inking a two-year MLS contract through 2022, with club options for 2023 and 2024.
The 19-year-old center back spent 2019 with the club’s USL Championship affiliate Sporting Kansas City II, where he had a standout campaign, making 22 appearances. He appeared in 16 matches for SKC II during last season’s abbreviated 2020 USL season, playing a team-leading 1,260 minutes, giving him 34 starts in the club’s last 38 matches overall.
The strong USL form combined with another positive showing in the club’s 2021 preseason was enough for SKC to make him the league-leading 11th academy product to sign with their first-team roster. Rad has started three out of SKC’s four exhibition matches so far this preseason, contributing to a pair of clean sheets.
Rad joins Grayson Barber, Gianluca Busio, Ozzie Cisneros, Cam Duke, Tyler Freeman, Wilson Harris, Felipe Hernandez, Jaylin Lindsey, Daniel Salloi and Brooks Thompson as the other academy products on SKC’s first team.
