Dejan Joveljić: Sporting Kansas Acquire Serbian Forward As Designated Player

Written by Patrick Echatah

On Saturday, Sporting Kansas City acquired Dejan Joveljić from the LA Galaxy in a historic intra-league deal.

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The Serbian international, 25, pays $4 million to join Kansas City. In MLS history, this is the first cash-for-player deal.

With the 2025 MLS roster rule revisions, this new kind of agreement was added, enabling clubs to trade for players using their own money rather than General Allocation Money (GAM) or other assets.

In addition, Sporting KC have offered Joveljić a three-year Designated Player contract through 2027 with a 2028 option.

Joveljić joined LA in 2021 as a U22 Initiative signee, having previously played for Eintracht Frankfurt of the German Bundesliga. Prior to debuting as LA’s No. 9 in 2024, he backed up Javier “Chicharito” Hernández with 45 goals in 123 all-competition games.

As LA Galaxy won their league-record sixth MLS Cup last year, Joveljić scored a team-high 21 goals in 33 all-competition games. He scored the game-winning goal in the Galaxy’s 2-1 MLS Cup victory over the New York Red Bulls and finished with six goals in the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs.

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“Dejan has proven himself to be a top striker in our league, and his legacy will be forever etched in Galaxy lore after capping a historic 2024 MLS Playoffs by scoring the game-winning goal in last year’s MLS Cup Final,” said LA general manager Will Kuntz.

” … The entire LA Galaxy organization would like to offer its sincerest thanks to Dejan for his legendary contributions to the club, and we wish him and his family success as they embark on a new chapter in their lives.”

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