After missing out on the playoffs for three of the past four seasons, Sporting Kansas City has brought in a new general manager.

The MLS franchise introduced David Lee as their new GM and president of soccer operations, signing a seven-year contract. The club says Lee will play an executive leadership role in all areas of SKC’s sporting enterprise, including first-team roster management, player recruitment, scouting, analytics, technical staff oversight, and continued development of Sporting’s MLS Next Pro team and the Sporting KC Academy. He will report directly to Sporting’s ownership group and oversee the team’s head coach and sporting director.

Lee comes to KC from New York City FC, where he had been Sporting Director since 2019. During that time, NYCFC won the 2021 MLS Cup and made the playoffs every season but 2023. The Englishman made his way to MLS in 2011, working as a performance analyst for New York Red Bulls before jumping across the river to the expansion side NYCFC in 2015.

Sporting KC are currently 14th in the Western Conference, three points ahead of the last-place Los Angeles Galaxy. Sporting will visit Minnesota United this Saturday at 7:30 p.m.