Sydney Leroux moves to FC Kansas City in three-team trade
United States women's national team star Sydney Leroux will be moving to Kansas City to join reigning NWSL champions FC Kansas City.
The move is Leroux's fourth team in as many NWSL seasons as she was traded from the Seattle Reign to the Western New York Flash before the 2015 season. She made few appearances for the New York club, playing three games before heading to the Women's World Cup and then missing the remainder of the season with an ankle injury.
Leroux requested the trade in the last offseason in order to be closer to her husband Dom Dwyer, a striker for Sporting Kansas City.
In a complicated trade to get Leroux, FC Kansas City acquired Jessica McDonald and Tiffany McCarty from the Houston Dash for an international roster spot and the No. 8 pick in the 2016 draft. Western NY Flash swapped Leroux for Jessica McDonald, an international roster spot in 2016 and 2017, and a second-round pick in the 2017 NWSL Draft.
"I’m really happy to have Sydney [Leroux] on the team,” Coach Vlatko Andonovski said in a released statement. “She is a proven goal scorer that every coach would love to have on the team. Her persistence and determination are on a whole different level. I feel blessed for the opportunity to work with her.”
Leroux expressed her enthusiasm for the move after the announcement.
“I’m thrilled to be playing in Kansas City, a place that my husband and I call home,” Leroux said. “FC Kansas City is an organization with a history of excellence and fans who are passionate and loyal. I couldn’t be more excited to join FCKC as we work towards a third consecutive NWSL championship.”
Husband Dwyer seemed just as excited in a post on Twitter:
FC Kansas City will aim for their third-straight NWSL title later this year.