Sporting Kansas City announced today that the club has signed 19-year-old Academy product and midfielder Cielo Tschantret as a Homegrown Player.
Tschantret has signed a two-year MLS contract through 2027 with club options for 2028 and 2029, making him the 23rd Homegrown Player to emerge from the Sporting Kansas City Academy and the club’s fourth Homegrown signing in the last year – following Jacob Bartlett, Ian James and Jack Kortkamp.
Tschantret signed an MLS NEXT Pro professional contract with Sporting KC II in early 2024 and appeared in 56 matches for the team as both an amateur and professional from 2023-2025, recording six goals and one assist.
In his MLS NEXT Pro debut for SKC II on April 23, 2023, Tschantret found the back of the net with an acrobatic volley as part of a 90-minute performance in a narrow 3-2 road loss at FC Cincinnati 2. He earned his second start for the club four months later and made an even bigger impact, heading home the game-winning goal in the 62nd minute of a 2-1 victory at Austin FC II on his way to earning MLS NEXT Rising Star of Matchday 24 honors.
Tschantret saw his role increase significantly in 2024 when he signed his professional deal with SKC II, starting 14 of 22 appearances while scoring the game-winning goal against rivals St. Louis 2 at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kansas on July 21, 2024.
Taking the captain’s armband in 2025, Tschantret played in 28 of SKC II’s 29 matches in all competitions – ranking second on the team with 2,392 minutes played – and scored a career-high three goals in the process. Tschantret's 2,327 minutes played in MLS NEXT Pro led all teenagers in 2025.
Tschantret opened the scoring with a strike from distance in the wild 3-3 road draw against North Texas SC on March 28, 2025 before heading home the insurance goal in the 3-1 away win over LAFC 2 on July 27, 2025. Tschantret scored his third goal of the season on Aug. 31, 2025, converting a corner kick at the near post in the 3-2 home defeat against Colorado Rapids 2.
The 19-year-old central midfielder arrived in Kansas City from his native Baltimore, Maryland in 2020 and starred for the Sporting KC Academy at the U-15, U-17 and U-19 levels.
Tschantret, the son of Sporting KC Academy U-18 head coach Lee Tschantret, spent six years in the club’s youth ranks from the U-15s to SKC II. At the U-15 and U-17 levels, he competed in high-profile competitions including the Generation adidas Cup and the MLS NEXT Academy Playoffs. In 2023, he was part of the dominant Sporting KC U-19 side that won a United Premier Soccer League division title and advanced to the round of 16 of the UPSL Playoffs.
With the addition of Tschantret, Sporting now has 14 players under contract for the 2026 season. For a full list of the club’s offseason roster moves, visit SportingKC.com/news/tracker.
- Goalkeepers (3): Jack Kortkamp, John Pulskamp, Ryan Schewe
- Defenders (2): Ian James, Jansen Miller
- Midfielders (5): Jacob Bartlett, Zorhan Bassong, Jake Davis, Manu Garcia, Cielo Tschantret
- Forwards (4): Stephen Afrifa, Dejan Joveljic, Daniel Salloi, Shapi Suleymanov
Transaction: Sporting Kansas City signs midfielder Cielo Tschantret as a Homegrown Player through 2027 with club options for 2028 and 2029.
VITALS
Cielo Tschantret (CHELL-oh tuh-SHAN-tret)
Position: Midfielder
Birthdate: 2/22/2006 (19 years old)
Height: 6-2
Weight: 165 lbs.
Hometown: Baltimore, MD
Birthplace: Baltimore, MD
Instagram: @mntschantret
Sporting KC Homegrown Players from SKC Academy
(age at signing in parentheses)
- 2010 – Goalkeeper Jon Kempin (17)
- 2011 – Defender Kevin Ellis (19)
- 2013 – Defender Erik Palmer-Brown (16)
- 2016 – Forward Daniel Salloi (19) *
- 2017 – Midfielder Gianluca Busio (15)
- 2017 – Defender Jaylin Lindsey (17)
- 2018 – Defender Matt Lewis (21)
- 2018 – Forward Zach Wright (22)
- 2018 – Midfielder Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal (19)
- 2018 – Forward Tyler Freeman (15)
- 2019 – Midfielder Cam Duke (18)
- 2019 – Midfielder Felipe Hernandez (21)
- 2020 – Forward Wilson Harris (20)
- 2021 – Midfielder Grayson Barber (20)
- 2021 – Forward Ozzie Cisneros (16)
- 2021 – Goalkeeper Brooks Thompson (18)
- 2021 – Defender Kaveh Rad (19)
- 2021 – Defender Kayden Pierre (18)
- 2021 – Midfielder Jake Davis (19) *
- 2024 – Defender Ian James (16) *
- 2024 – Goalkeeper Jack Kortkamp (16) *
- 2025 – Midfielder Jacob Bartlett (19) *
- 2025 – Midfielder Cielo Tschantret (19) *
* Denotes current Sporting KC player
