September 1 – MLS’ Sporting KC has announced a formal partnership with Brazil’s Fluminense FC. The two clubs will share philosophies, marketing strategies, business practices, and players too.
Sporting KC’s head coach, Peter Vermes, said: “We realised that they were a perfect fit. We were aware of their club tradition and ability to produce world-class talent, but it was the common philosophy and vision shared between both clubs’ management that drove this partnership.”
The agreement sets an emphasis on the development and exchange of players. Sporting KC already has Fluminense’s 20 year-old Brazilian Igor Juliao on loan, who has enjoyed a successful rise into the first team ranks this season. The relationship fostered through this deal has encouraged further collaboration in the respective youth systems.
The pair is to create a system of exchange whereby youth academy players and coaches alike can experience how the other half lives, honing their trade with foreign knowledge. In addition, there is a formal agreement that Sporting KC will house at least one Fluminense player on loan each season. In roads have been made for Sporting KC’s affiliates to get their hands on Fluminense’s talent through loan deals too.
Sporting KC are set to gain a substantial benefit with access to a successful youth system at Fluminense that has developed players such as Thiago Silva (pictured) and Marcelo in recent years. The deal marks the progress of U.S. soccer, in that they are now capable of drawing the interest of internationally renowned clubs, mimicking the type of high profile partnership that Orlando City FC secured with Portugal’s Benfica.
For Fluminense’s part, they seem to gain more in terms of marketing and business opportunities in the USA.
Fluminense have won the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A two times in the past five seasons, whilst Sporting KC is the reigning champion of the MLS Cup.
Vermes noted parallel attributes of the clubs, stating: “They’re first-class people. They have a great vision. They’re a lot like us in that they’re trying to do very innovate things within the Brazilian league that haven’t been done before. We try to do a lot of that stuff, too. There’s a synergy there.”
The partnership will see two friendly fixtures between the sides, one at the Maracana Stadium in Brazil and the other at Sporting Park in Kansas City. They will likely be scheduled during pre-season whereby access to training facilities will be made available.
Fluminense’s President, Peter Siemsen, stated in a press release: “We continuously invested in our presence in the North American market over the last two years in search of a strategic partnership. I believe our goals and communication are very well aligned. We could not be any more pleased with this association for our brand.”
Robb Heineman, Sporting Club’s chief executive, said: “Player development, training opportunities and coaching education all feed into our core mission and this partnership with Fluminense FC will be of great benefit in all of these areas. This partnership will provide access to another level of curriculum and will continue to help us become the best developmental organization in the United States.”
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