The optimism for a transfer striker quieted sometime in late winter, after an exhaustive search that left Sporting Kansas City waiting for the marketplace to expand.
Sporting KC has privately prolonged the hunt for a marquee forward — even as it sits in first place in the Western Conference — but it has publicly moved on. The foreseeable future, in other words, is most likely to resemble the recent past.
Which leads to Khiry Shelton.
When Sporting KC acquired Shelton in December, the initial plan was to secure depth at central forward and on the wing.