Soony Saad left the Michigan men's soccer team in January to pursue a professional career in Europe. He finally landed with a professional team on Tuesday, but is still stateside.

Saad signed a contract with Major League Soccer over the weekend and his professional rights went to Sporting Kansas City in a weighted lottery put on by the league.

"To be honest, the past few months and today have been pretty hectic, trying to figure out where I stand," Saad said in a phone interview. "When I got the news that Kansas City had won me, I was thrilled. ... I look forward to having a good relationship with the coach. I couldn’t have hoped for a better team than Kansas City."

Sporting Kansas City won the professional rights to former Michigan player Soony Saad, left.

AnnArbor.com file photo

Saad, an 18-year-old striker, left Michigan after scoring a nation-best 19 goals his freshman season, but did not enter the MLS SuperDraft in order to pursue opportunities in Europe.

While in Europe, Saad said he had trials with teams in Germany -- including SC Freiburg and Bayern Munich -- and RSC Anderlecht in Belgium.

Saad said he did receive some offers while in Europe -- though he did not specify from whom -- but that none were what he was looking for, so he returned stateside. He later returned to Europe for a trial with Stabaek in Norway, which he thought would result in a deal. When that didn't happen, he decided to try MLS.

"I knew MLS was an option and wanted to be in an environment where I could train and be working toward bettering myself as a professional every day," Saad said. "Me and my agent were weighing out things, which would be the best for my career, and finally came to the conclusion that I need to start playing ASAP and the MLS was very quick and responsive."

Saad said he does not regret his decision to leave school early, or to try and make a European squad rather than entering the MLS SuperDraft right away.

"When I was (in Europe) I definitely feel like my game improved a lot," Saad said. "Unfortunately we weren’t able to land a contract, but I’m thankful for the opportunity with MLS. ... I’m confident I can develop here and help the squad."
MLS puts on weighted lotteries for players who sign with the league after its annual SuperDraft, at which point interested teams are allotted a percentage chance in the lottery based on their record in the previous 34 games.

Teams are only allowed to receive one player per year via weighted lottery, so only 14 of the league's 18 teams were eligible for Saad's services.

In addition to Sporting KC, the Chicago Fire, Chivas USA and Portland Timbers expressed interest.

Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes said he thought Saad would have been a first-round pick in the SuperDraft had he declared himself eligible and commended his decision to leave school early and give Europe a go.

"He needed to go to another level," Vermes said. "It takes courage to test the waters. For him to go and try that I think is a huge benefit to us. ... I think he’ll be giving more than he ever thought he would."

Vermes said the reinstitution of the reserve league in the MLS, which allows backup players to still get game minutes, makes it more likely for young players to grow in the league and do so at a quicker pace.

"Now that's not to say he can’t make an impact on the first team," Vermes said. "He’s hungry and greedy to score goals, which I think is a great quality."

Sporting KC is undefeated in its last eight games and had the lowest likelihood besides expansion Portland to land Saad's services (21.2 percentage compared to Chicago's 32.3 and Chivas USA's 45.9 percentage). Expansion teams are given the lowest chance of landing players in lotteries.

"I was looking for a European experience before, but now I’m looking forward to staying close to home and playing in a great environment in Kansas City," Saad said.

Saad is the second Michigan forward to sign with the MLS this year. Justin Meram was drafted in the first round of the SuperDraft by the Columbus Crew.

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.