Center back Roberto Puncec made his first Sporting Kansas City acquaintance roughly two months ago.
The 28-year-old center back had begun conversing with Sead Karaselimovic, one of Sporting’s talent identification directors tasked with scouting players across Europe.
As Karaselimovic told him more and more about Sporting—gushing over the fan base, facilities and growing standard of Major League Soccer—Puncec realized this was an opportunity he couldn’t refuse.
“I said to my agent, ‘I want to go there. It’s finished. That’s it. I want to go,’” Puncec said during his first visit to Children’s Mercy Park earlier this month.