KANSAS CITY – Soony Saad, the 18-year-old former University of Michigan forward from Dearborn who led the NCAA in scoring last fall with 19 goals, was acquired by Sporting Kansas City of  the professional Major League Soccer organization early this month after the team won a lottery for the rights to sign him. 

Saad had attempted to play in Europe after signing with an agent and thus used up his college eligibility according to reports before coming to the MLS. 

He has said he is “thrilled and ecstatic” to join the club and to begin his professional soccer career. He also has acknowledged that he needs to get stronger in order to maximize his potential in MLS but he has said that he is confident he can make the transition. 

Saad has reportedly been impressive in practice and has beaten the odds to become a contributor already, in the middle of the season.

He saw his first game action with the first team on Wednesday, July 20 during a friendly inter-league match against Newcastle United during which he tallied the game’s first shot on goal in the 65th minute. The match ended in a 0-0 draw, however. 

Saad also played in a reserve match against the Chicago Fire on Tuesday as well. 

“He realized that for him and his development, he needed to go to another level,” Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes told the team’s website. “When you know that’s the challenge that you want, that’s 75 percent of the battle…Now, he’s going to be in a position where on a daily basis he’s going to be challenged, he’s going to grow and has the ability to play with players that are of a higher level and are going to challenge him every day.”

Saad said he’s excited to develop his game in a professional, European-style environment as well and hopes to take his skills to the next level. 

“He’s going to be in a great environment,” Vermes said. “If he has the commitment and the enthusiasm to really take in as much as he can, he’s going to grow very quickly.”

Sporting Kansas City currently has a record of 5-6-8 on the season with their next game scheduled for Saturday, July 23 against Toronto FC at 7:30 p.m. 

Saad’s college teammate at Michigan, Justin Meram, who also helped lead the Wolverines to the national semi-finals, was drafted by the Columbus Crew this year and has played in eight games while notching two assists so far.