Roger Espinoza Poised to Return to Kansas City

After a two year absence, midfielder Roger Espinoza is ready to return to Kansas City.

  

If all goes according to plan, Roger Espinoza will rejoin Sporting Kansas City after a two year absence. It was announced earlier in December thatWigan Athletic is allowing him to leave the club in the January transfer window.  All reports indicate that he is homesick and wants a return to Kansas City.

Espinoza left Sporting after the 2012 MLS season on a free transfer, moving to Wigan in the Barclays Premier League. The speculation is that he wanted to be at his best for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and a move to the Premier League was the best option. He saw regular minutes with Wigan throughout the second half of the 2013-14 season and scored two goals, with the highlight of his time in England the 1-0 upset of Manchester City in the 2013 FA Cup Final.

Espinoza will hope to reclaim his central defensive midfield position and fill a much needed hole in the Kansas City lineup. Uri Rosell was an excellent replacement in Espinoza's absence, but his June transfer to Sporting Lisbonled to the second half slide by the defending champions. Lawrence Olumstepped into the role, but lacked the intensity brought by the previous two CDMs. Jorge Claros was brought in late in the season to fill the void but couldn't work his way into a consistent starting role.

It will be interesting to see how the pair of Honduran internationals will be used by Peter Vermes in the 2015 season. Espinoza and Claros are very familiar with each other, having played for the Honduran international team together since 2009 including the World Cup in Brazil.

Since Sporting didn't accept a transfer fee when Espinoza left, they still hold his MLS rights. It doesn't appear that Wigan will be asking for a transfer fee for him either. If all goes well, Espinoza will be ready to begin preseason training with Sporting at the end of January.