Sporting Kansas City announced on Wednesday that forward Dom Dwyer has signed a contract extension with the club. The 24-year-old Englishman set a single-season team record in 2014 with 24 goals across all competitions and earned MLS All-Star honors for the first time in his career. Following the club's announcement, Dwyer discussed his decision to stay in Kansas City and the goals he has for the 2015 season.
On signing a contract extension with Sporting KC...
I’m very excited to commit my future to this club. It’s a club that showed belief in me and drafted me. [Re-signing is] something that I wanted to do, and I’m very excited for it. It’s nice not to be too concerned about that stuff now and I can focus on what really matters, and that’s playing football, getting better and bringing some more championships to Kansas City.
On his decision to commit to Sporting KC long-term...
It’s a club with aspirations to win championships. It’s a club that has shown more belief in me, and it’s somewhere I want to be. You see our stadium, you see our facilities, you see the coaches and fans and ownership groups—all the hard work that goes into the background of the club—it’s a good place to be. It’s going to be a successful club in the future.
On the interest he has received from clubs in England...
Obviously there was interest, but I was still contracted to Kansas City. They’ve obviously shown more faith in me to renew my contract, so I’ve had to tell people to back off right now. (Sporting KC) reiterated to me that they wanted me here, and that made me happy and made me want to be here.
On the benefits of continuing to play in the United States...
It’s something I look forward to and am very excited about. I’ve heard little rumors here and there, conversations with my agent that there is slight interest (from) the U.S. [Men’s National Team] camp, and obviously that would be an amazing thing to be a part of. So it was obviously something to be involved in and be in (MLS) for. I think the League is going places as well. It’s a place to definitely be in.
On his future aspirations...
When I was growing up, my dream was always to play in England. That was always my dream. But when you get older, dreams change. If I can continue to have success in Kansas City and enjoy myself, and if they continue to show faith in me and want me at the club, then I’m not ruling anything off. I’m happy at the club right now and I’m enjoying it. I’ve committed the next few years to the club and I guess we’ll see—if I keep doing well and they want to keep a hold of me, I don’t think it will be a bad place to be at all.
On his individual goals for the 2015 season...
I’m not going to tell you my secrets because I didn’t tell you them last year. But my target [last year] was 24 goals. I was a bit short of that, but this year it’s obviously going to be a bit more than that. Hopefully it’s a record-setting season, and I like to set my targets high, so you guys can have a guess at the numbers and all that stuff. Really, I want to win championships most importantly. I think to do that, I’ll have to achieve my goals. So hopefully both come in quick succession together.
On the team's goals for the 2015 season...
Obviously we were disappointed with this past season. We’re not just happy with making the playoffs. That’s not really the kind of team we are. Our goal is always set very high, and definitely our goal next year is to do what Seattle did this year, but go all the way and win (MLS Cup). Seattle was fantastic this year with the Supporters’ Shield and Open Cup, and that’s not an easy thing to do. They didn’t quite make it to MLS Cup, and hopefully we can be that team to get all three.
On Sporting KC's player movement during the offseason...
We lost some guys who we’d have loved to hold onto, but that happens sometimes in football. We’ve held onto a lot of good guys and the coaches are smart—they know what they’re doing and they’ll bring in some guys to compete and win championships. That’s the main thing we want to do. I think we’ll improve the squad, switch things up a bit. I’m expecting big things and I’m very excited.
Everyone does their job and has their part. You can’t quite hold on to every player sometimes. Those things happen in football. The coaches obviously know what they’re doing. They’ll bring in the things we need to be a better side, and I have full faith in them to do their jobs. Then it’s up to us as players to get the job done.
