News broke a few days ago that FC Dallas had traded for the Homegrown right to Kentucky senior Kalil ElMedkhar from the Philadelphia Union. Now FCD has announced the next logical step and signed the Wildcat winger to a Homegrown contract.
In four years at Kentucky, Elmedkhar played in 65 games making 50 starts scoring 20 goals with 21 assists. Two-time All-CUSA First Team in 2018 and 2019. He also played for Reading United in their back-to-back runs to the USL League Two championships in 2018 and 2019.
Soccer By Ives had Elmedkhar ranked 12th in their SuperDraft board.
Our take: This is a terrific use of outside-the-box thinking to land a talented attacking wing talent. Philadelphia doesn’t use wings – the same reason they were willing to trade Fafa Picault – so Dallas was able to pull a player out of the draft pool they coveted in a fashion similar to signing Nicky Hernandez to a North Texas SC contract directly.
The scouting and quality of the player does, of course, remain to be seen. Elmedkhar should not be see as the replacement for Michael Barrios.
The FCD Academy grad coming out of college I thought most likely to be signed to a Homegrown contract was Mark Salas, a right back out of UNC.
Full Name: Kalil ElMedkhar
Connect with Kalil: Instagram
Pronunciation: CA-leel El-med-car
Position: Winger
DOB: August 18, 1999 (21)
Hometown: Middletown, Delaware
Birthplace: Middletown, Delaware
Height: 6-2
Weight: 180
Citizenship: United States/Syria
So if we own his rights do we keep 100% of the transfer fee if he were to be sold in the coming years?
Yes. It *should* work like any other Homegrown.
According to mlssoccer.com, Philly gets a percentage of the transfer.
Oh I see, Philly retained part of the sell on. They did an FCD. That’s a little unconventional.