Sporting KC needs roster help. Could a club legend be the answer?

The injury bug is back at Sporting KC, although it may have never left.

Striker Willy Agada has been playing through a stress fracture, which was revealed in an X-ray earlier in the week. He will have to undergo surgery, ruling him out for the foreseeable future.

Agada had been playing through the ailment — unknowingly — for the majority of the season. He was a full participant in training on Tuesday and didn’t have any visible issues.

Manager Peter Vermes told reporters on Thursday that if his training staff had come to him and told him he had a player who was injured but didn’t look like they were, Agada would have been one of his last guesses.

“He was completely shocked,” Vermes said. “He’s like, ‘I’m playing. There’s nothing wrong.’”

According to Vermes, Agada had occasionally felt a little pain or noticed extra soreness after a game, so he decided to go the training staff and ask about it. Sure enough, the X-ray revealed a stress fracture.

Agada dealt with a similar injury while playing in Israel.

While Vermes wasn’t willing to put a timetable on Agada’s return, his club is now short on depth at the striker position. There are simple internal solutions, but KC still needs healthy bodies there, as Alan Pulido has not played more than 60 minutes yet in a match.

The club has gotten a head start already, as a familiar face was present in training on Thursday: Sporting KC’s second all-time leading goalscorer, Dom Dwyer.

With Sporting KC, Dwyer had 68 goals in 155 appearances. His last stint with the club ended in 2017, when he was traded to Orlando City SC midseason.

“It’s a little surreal to be honest with you,” Vermes said. “The one thing he always has had is an upbeat personality.”

Tim Melia’s face lit up when Dwyer’s name was mentioned. He told reporters that the idea of potentially bringing Dwyer back into the fold was, “a great idea”

“He’s a great locker room guy,” Melia said. “He’s had his most success at this club and I think it could potentially be a great new lease on life for him.

It’s Dwyer’s positive attitude that Melia hopes can relieve some of Sporting’s frustration with a poor start to the 2023 season.

“It’s so difficult to sit in interviews or meetings and be like, ‘Guys, we’re almost there,’” Melia said. “A positive attitude just rejuvenates everyone, relaxes everybody, and hopefully it helps.”

Vermes confirmed Dwyer was with the club on a trial basis and is one of the solutions Sporting will consider to fill the roster hole left by Agada’s absence.

They’ll need to add someone, and fast, as the games pile up.

Sporting KC’s first stretch containing midweek games begins next week. The Primary Transfer Window for MLS closes on Monday, meaning Sporting KC has until then to sign any player requiring an International Transfer Certificate (ITC). It’s an incredibly short time for a deal to get done with another team.

In addition, they’d have to wait out the visa process, which has taken up to a month for some players to get into the country after agreeing to a deal. Sporting KC can’t afford to wait that long given the current roster and team situation.

For that, Vermes said Sporting will look domestically for solutions, which can come via free-agent acquisitions, like Dwyer, or a trade from within MLS.