Sporting Kansas City announced today that the club has acquired 25-year-old central midfielder Gadi Kinda on a one-year loan from Israeli Premier League side Beitar Jerusalem using Targeted Allocation Money.

Kinda’s loan comes with an option for Sporting to exercise a permanent transfer at the end of 2020. He will occupy an international spot on Sporting’s roster pending receipt of his International Transfer Certificate and P-1 Visa.

“Gadi is a central midfielder who plays box to box and has a great engine,” Sporting Kansas City Manager and Sporting Director Peter Vermes said. “He has good attacking qualities in the final third and his defensive responsibilities are very well engrained in him. We think Gadi will fit well into the way that we play and look forward to welcoming him to the team.”

Kinda has played over 200 matches in Israel since turning professional in 2011 at age 17. He arrives in Kansas City after starring as one of the Israeli Premier League’s best players during the first half of the 2019-20 season. Before his move to Sporting, the playmaker ranked fourth in the league with a team-best seven goals while also leading the side with four assists.

Born in Ethiopia and raised in Israel, Kinda joined Beitar Jerusalem in February 2019 and has played a leading role in the club’s turnaround over the last year, starting in 30 of 31 appearances in all competitions. After finishing 11th in the 2018-19 regular season table, Beitar Jerusalem currently occupies third place in the Premier League and won the 2019-20 Toto Cup Al last September with a 2-0 win over reigning champions Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Kinda spent the first seven and a half years of his professional career at FC Ashdod. He developed as a youth in his hometown club’s academy prior to landing an Israeli Premier League debut in September 2011 as a 17-year-old. He became a regular starter for Ashdod during the 2013-2014 campaign, notably scoring his first top-fight goal in a 3-2 defeat of Israeli giants Maccabi Haifa in September 2013.

Ashdod spent the 2015-16 season in Israel’s second division, but a strong bounce-back culminated with a Liga Leumit title as Kinda earned 27 appearances and helped his team finish atop the standings by a seven-point margin. Ashdod’s subsequent promotion to the Premier League saw Kinda tally seven goals and seven assists over the next two and a half seasons before his transfer to Beitar Jerusalem.

On the international stage, Kinda has represented Israel at the U-18, U-19 and U-21 levels. He featured in qualifying matches for the 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship as well as the 2015 and 2017 editions of the UEFA Under-21 Championship. Kinda has yet to earn his first cap for the Israeli Men’s National Team but was selected to the senior squad for UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying last fall.

Kinda will now join Sporting in Arizona for the club’s 2020 preseason, presented by Children’s Mercy. Sporting will open the MLS campaign on Feb. 29 at Vancouver Whitecaps FC before hosting the Houston Dynamo in their Children’s Mercy Park home opener on March 7.

The best way to guarantee tickets for 2020 home matches at Children’s Mercy Park is to join the Sporting Kansas City family and become a Season Ticket Member. Several multi-game ticket packages for the 2020 season are also on sale now at SportingKC.com, including the limited-time Home Opener Pack that bundles the game on March 7 with two flex matches. Single-game tickets for the first half of Sporting’s home schedule will go on sale to the general public in the near future.

For a full list of Sporting’s offseason roster moves, visit SportingKC.com/tracker.

Transaction: Sporting Kansas City (MLS) acquires midfielder Gadi Kinda on a one-year loan from Beitar Jerusalem (Israeli Premier League) using Targeted Allocation Money, with an option to exercise a permanent transfer at the end of 2020.

VITALS

Gadi Kinda (GAH-dee KINN-dah)

Position: Midfielder

Number: 17

Born: 3/23/1994 (25 years old)

Height: 5-8

Weight: 145 lbs.

Hometown: Ashdod, Israel

Birthplace: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Citizenship: Ethiopia, Israel

Previous club: Beitar Jerusalem (Israel)

Instagram: @gadikindaa