Football
Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondent 7y

Sporting KC's Erik Palmer-Brown has signed Man City pre-contract - source

Sporting Kansas City and U.S. under-20 international Erik Palmer-Brown has signed a pre-contract with Manchester City, a source has confirmed to ESPN FC.

Metro first reported the news, stating that Palmer-Brown had signed a four-and-a-half year contract.

Palmer-Brown, 20, will finish out the current season with SKC and join up with Man City in January, after his current contract expires. He is then expected to spend the rest of the 2017-18 European season on loan.

SKC manager Peter Vermes told the Kansas City Star that the MLS team had made a contract offer to Palmer-Brown to keep him in Kansas City, but it likely couldn't compete with the wages that a club like Man City could offer.

"We believed we made him a very good offer in MLS," Vermes said.

Palmer-Brown signed for SKC out of the club's academy back in 2013, making just 18 appearances over the course of five seasons. But Palmer-Brown had been on the radar of European clubs for some time.

He spent the 2016 campaign on loan with Portuguese side Porto, making a total of 17 appearances with the club's B team.

With Matt Besler and Ike Opara preferred at center-back, Palmer-Brown has only made four MLS starts this season.

Palmer-Brown also captained the U.S. U-20 side that won the 2017 CONCACAF championship, and later reached the quarterfinals of the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, where it lost in extra time to eventual finalist Venezuela.

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