Aug 22, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Sporting KC defender Marcel de Jong (71) kicks the ball in the first half of the game against the Columbus Crew SC at MAPFRE Stadium. Columbus Crew SC beat Sporting KC by the score of 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

According to the Montreal Gazette, Sporting Kansas City left back Marcel de Jong is on his way out.

You can add Marcel de Jong to the growing list of Canadian internationals who have been kicked to the curb by MLS. The defender was recently told by Sporting Kansas City that he is no longer in the team’s plans.

It was this time last year that de Jong even showed up on the radar of Sporting KC fans. He showed up at the 2015 Desert Diamond Cup on trial with Sporting. Ultimately, he would end up earning a contract despite Sporting having a solid left back in Kansas City boy Seth Sinovic.

If de Jong is in fact on his way out the door, the news won’t be all that shocking. Sinovic was re-signed in the offseason and he has basically been the starter at LB when he is healthy, which he wasn’t in 2015. When Sinovic was out an extended period of time with a concussion, 2015 first round pick, Amadou Dia, was the player of choice to play left back.

On top of that, Sporting KC currently have five players on the roster who played left back in 2015. The aforementioned Sinovic, de Jong and Dia. Fellow 2015 SuperDraft first round pick Saad Abdul-Salaam found minutes on the left side of the back line, as well as Jimmy Medranda.

Speculation has been rampant that de Jong could be the odd man out. He made $180,000 in 2015 and despite that only made 13 appearances for a paltry 847 minutes on the pitch. That’s $212 plus dollars per minute. I’d work for that sort of hourly wage.

When de Jong did made it onto the field later in the season, it was only in games where the starters were being rested. In those two appearances he actually played left wing. It would seem the wing will be a combination of Brad Davis, Graham Zusi, Justin Mapp and Connor Hallisey right now. De Jong clearly is the worst at that position of the bunch, but he is making too much money to be depth.

Just the other day I was speculating that de Jong could end up on one of the three Canadian MLS clubs. It seems like a logical move. He’d be more popular in Canada and he won’t take up an international roster spot.

It will be interesting to see if de Jong is with the club when they reconvene in Tucson, Arizona for the Desert Diamond Cup. Krisztian Nemeth was missing just before he was sold to Qatar and Erik Palmer-Brown was with the team and then vanished just before he was loaned to FC Porto.

Keep your eyes on us at Reporting KC or on Twitter for all the latest. We’ll be in Tucson on February 17, 2016 when the first official preseason game goes down against the defending Eastern Conference Champions, the Columbus Crew.