Photo by Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports

By SKYLAR ROLSTAD

Sporting Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes was delighted at training Monday morning when his team made official the trade of Servando Carrasco to Orlando City SC for the Lions’ Amobi Okugo.

“Amobi comes in as a guy who knows the league, and he’s played a ton in this league,” Vermes said. “We have a lot of confidence in the fact that Amobi can do these things.”

Okugo, 24 years old, has played the last five seasons in MLS for Philadelphia and Orlando City. He has totaled 132 appearances in the league as a defensive midfielder and centerback.

He can provide cover for Sporting KC at center midfielder, defensive midfielder and centerback. Since defender Ike Opara suffered a long-term injury early in the year, Sporting KC has searched for cover at the back and has now possibly found it.

Vermes also said that Orlando City’s interest in Carrasco began a while ago, and the move went through because he considered the trade a convenient option for Sporting due to Okugo’s experience.

“It wound up being a good fit because we needed cover,” Vermes said. “You’re trying to find players, and a lot of times, you try to to find players, and they wind up being foreign players. But there’s a lot of things that can go wrong with those moves.”

While Vermes did not rule out any further moves in the summer transfer window, he was cautious about which kind of player to add to the team while things are going so well.

“We’re still planning on doing some things, but what we’re not planning to do is to try to force somebody into the team that maybe we’re not sure if it’s the right person,” Vermes said.

Sporting KC currently sits in fourth place in the Western Conference, two points behind first-place Los Angeles Galaxy but hold two games in hand.