The Swope Park Rangers are finalizing plans to promote Paulo Nagamura to head coach, sources told The Star on Wednesday.
Nagamura, a former Sporting Kansas City midfielder, will be the Rangers’ third coach in their three seasons. He served as an assistant under Nikola Popovic in 2017. Popovic and Swope Park mutually agreed to part ways earlier this month.
Nagamura, 34, played 12 seasons in Major League Soccer, including the final five in Kansas City before opting to retire after the 2016 season. Upon retirement, he immediately embarked on a coaching career with the Rangers.
“It’s something I’ve always thought about doing,” Nagamura told The Star last winter.