Football
ESPN staff 8y

Diego Rubio seals loan to Sporting KC as young designated player

Sporting Kansas City completed the signing of striker Diego Rubio on loan from Spanish club Real Valladolid on Tuesday.

Rubio, 22, signs as a young designated player. He will count toward the team's allotment of three DPs, joining U.S. internationals Matt Besler and Graham Zusi, but his salary will only count $200,000 toward SKC's salary cap.

"We are excited to bring Rubio to the club," Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes said in a statement. "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."

Rubio made 14 appearances in the Spanish Segunda Division with Real Valladolid this season.

He previously starred for Sporting Lisbon's reserve side in Portugal while also making 20 appearances over four years for the senior team in between loan spells in Romania and Norway.

The Kansas City Star, which first reported the move last week, said the 5-foot-10 Rubio will back up striker Dom Dwyer as a replacement for Krisztian Nemeth, who moved to Qatar during the MLS offseason.

Rubio is a Chile international, having made three appearances in friendlies in 2011.

^ Back to Top ^