Sporting Kansas City announced the acquisition of midfielder Michael Thomas on Wednesday morning, making the Olathe, Kan. native the fifth local product to occupy a spot on Sporting Kansas City's senior roster. Selected by the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft, Thomas instead chose to sign with Halmstads BK of the Swedish Allsvenskan before moving to Ljungskile SK in the summer of 2010. Thomas remained in Sweden until this fall, when he returned to Kansas City and began training with Sporting.
An impressive training stint--punctuated by a goal in Sporting Kansas City's final reserve match of 2011--led to the signing of the two-way midfielder, who was reached over the phone on Wednesday following the announcement. In the following 15-minute interview, Thomas touches on what it was like growing up on the same youth soccer fields as Matt Besler and Seth Sinovic, his decision to pursue opportunities abroad and what he's looking forward to most about joining the club he grew up supporting as a kid.
