Report: Sporting Kansas City ‘aggressively disputed’ Rosenberry homegrown claim

Sporting Kansas City wasn’t the only team, but was the “most aggressive about having MLS deny the Union's claim” for Keegan Rosenberry as a homegrown player, according to a report in Goal USA.

The Union selected the Georgetown senior No. 3 overall in the SuperDraft back in January after trading up for the pick, and he’s gone on to have a sensational rookie season. He would be considered the steal of the draft if it weren’t for the circumstances that led to him being in the draft in the first place.

Rosenberry played in the Union youth system before the full-time Academy was founded as a member of club affiliate FC Delco and trained and played with the Union back when the MLS Reserve League still existed.

While his homegrown status wasn’t as clear as it was with recent signing Auston Trusty, who spent three years in a full-time academy structure, the claim was reportedly denied not because he didn’t spend enough time with the Union in the part-time Academy setup but because he didn’t log enough training hours with the organization prior to his senior season. This, as the story goes, only happened because he was finishing up coursework to graduate early.

Besides factoring in who the Union could have picked instead – Chicago Fire left back Brandon Vincent perhaps – the league decision to deny the Union’s homegrown claim is a gift that keeps on giving. Because he was signed as a draft pick, Rosenberry will have to be protected in the upcoming Expansion Draft, something they won’t have to worry about with Generation adidas picks Joshua Yaro and Fabian Herbers as well as homegrown players Auston Trusty and Derrick Jones.

Union officials did not go on record for the report, but writer Ives Galarcep did get one unnamed team official to say, "It's not something we would have done."

SKC was familiar with Rosenberry’s talent when he trained with the club the summer before his junior season, but Sporting head coach and South Jersey native Peter Vermes was quoted in the article saying he didn’t remember a dispute occurring.