Charlotte FC aims for redemption at Sporting Kansas City 

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina, who has sat out the last two Charlotte FC matches, is in the mix to return to the starting lineup Wednesday against Sporting Kansas City.

After a false start to the second half of the season in Philadelphia two weeks ago, Charlotte FC is once again back on the road, facing Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday night. Kickoff is 8:30 p.m. The match will be televised on Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass with radio coverage on WFNZ 92.7 FM; WOLS 106.1 FM (Spanish).

It’s another chance for Dean Smith’s men to get back to the winning way in which they started 2025, one that put them briefly atop the MLS East. Then came injuries that changed the game, especially for a defense that had been solid the season before.

That began with the loss of right back Nathan Byrne, who had become an unsung hero with his endline to endline contribution on both sides of the ball. His last match was the win in Montreal on April 12. Charlotte won the next game at home against San Diego but lost starting left back Souleyman Doumbia. That was followed by losses in five straight MLS games, two of those at home. 

Charlotte did win their U.S. Open Cup match against North Carolina FC in the middle of that, but it did not right the ship. At the tail end, they drew their next Open Cup match at DC United but lost on penalty kicks. 

In true Jekyll and Hyde form, Charlotte showed what they are capable of with a gutty 3-2 home win over the Columbus Crew, then lost 4-2 away to New York Red Bulls, won at Toronto on of May 31. With two weeks of rest    before heading to MLS leader Philadelphia, Charlotte was without Patrick Agyemang and Tim Ream, both with the U.S. Men’s National Team, but the Union were depleted by call-ups as well. The Crown played well enough to take a point home on Wilfried Zaha’s 78th minute equalizer, but lost on the last kick of the game in the eighth minute of added time.

Doumbia returned to start at Toronto and get more than an hour in before playing the full 90 at Philadelphia. Smith reports that Byrne, after surgery to replace two discs in his neck, is now in the protocol of returning to training on the guidance of his doctors and team medical staff.

Twenty-five days into June, this is the second game of the month for a team that had to play nine games in May, with seven of those away from home. Charlotte will play their third and last game of June in Chicago on Saturday. 

With leading scorer Agyemang (six goals) out, it will be up to Liel Abada, Pep Biel, and Zaha, all with five goals apiece, along with Kerwin Vargas and Idan Toklomati to lead the attack.

After giving number one goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina, the 2024 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, a breather for the last two games, it is likely to see him back between the posts, but Smith would not commit, saying, “I've got a decision to make now for Wednesday.”

There will be top-tier soccer in Charlotte, though, as Bank of America Stadium will host the FIFA Club World Cup Round of 16 match between Benfica and Chelsea. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.

The rise of Agyemang

He won’t be with the team in Kansas City nor Chicago but that doesn’t mean people aren’t talking about Agyemang.

With the continuing domestic and international platform of the USMNT and the Concacaf Gold Cup, the stock of Charlotte’s tip of the spear continues to rise. Though he’s contracted to CLTFC through the 2026 season, the striker has not agreed to any proposed contract extensions offered to date by the club that chose him with the 12th pick of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft out of the University of Rhode Island.

Even though Smith says they are not shopping him, that doesn’t mean the 6-foot-4 forward isn’t going to be coveted by others. There’s been plenty of chatter and reports that Agyemang has drawn interest from clubs including Derby County and Ipswich Town in England’s second-tier Championship division, along with Belgian club Genk.

His current value, according to Transfermarkt.com, is just over $4.5 million. As of June 2024, he was estimated at one quarter of that, just over $1 million for a transfer fee. His true value, however, is what any other club is willing to pay.

Since getting his first call-up with the USMNT in January, Agyemang has five goals in nine caps for his country. Two of those goals came in the first three games for the U.S. in the Gold Cup, including the game-winner last time out against Haiti. The Americans, with Agyemang up front and Charlotte teammate Tim Ream in the back, will face Costa Rica on Sunday in a quarterfinal match.

For his club, Agyemang has six goals and an assist in 16 MLS games this season, two and one in two U.S. Open Cup matches.

Assumptions that the Crown will lose Agyemang in the summer transfer window are presumptuous at best. 

“We're not in a position as a club where we need to sell anybody, especially if it's going to weaken our team,” Smith said before heading to Kansas City, adding the caveat, “that every player will have a value as well.

“We spoke to Patrick and his representatives to try and get him to sign a longer deal with this club on better wages, but they turned that down, and we'll see where we go with it.”

Will Agyemang move on as he looks to improve not only his compensation but his skill and experience? Absolutely. That is commonplace in MLS now, not just for American talent like Agyemang but also for many young international players who have developed in the league. Vargas may be in that position as well.

For now, though, Smith calmly put it this way: “As I've always said, he's our player for another 18 months. And unless there's a deal that's right for this football club, then you know, Patrick is our player, and we enjoy having him here.”

In short, he is here until the price is right.

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