Alan Pulido joined Sporting Kansas City ahead of the 2020 season as the most expensive signing in club history.
Hopes were high that SKC’s long search for a strike was over as Pulido was coming off of being the leading scorer in Liga MX’s 2019 Apertura.
A series of unfortunate events has led to the Mexican striker’s contract nearing completion with little to show for it on the Kansas City end.
The COVID pandemic struck shortly after Pulido’s arrival in 2020 and altered league play in the 2020 season. In 2021, injuries hampered Pulido and he made just 21 appearances for the club. Another injury and subsequent knee surgery kept him out of the Sporting Kansas City lineup for the entirety of the 2022 season.
Despite everything that has gone wrong, when Alan Pulido is on the pitch he has been the difference maker Peter Vermes hoped for before the signing.
The forward was named MLS Player of the Month for the month of June after scoring in four straight matches and tallying 6 goals and 1 assist in that timeframe.
Pulido wore this State Line 3.0 jersey on June 3rd, 2023 against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
He scored a 20th minute goal via header off of a set piece as Sporting Kansas City drew with Vancouver, 1-1.
This shirt is unwashed and has a few signs of wear with some scuffs and stains near the left collarbone, the lower left hem, and the left sleeve.
It was signed by Alan Pulido on the back next to his number.
The dark indigo state line 3.0 kits were introduced in 2022 to pay homage to the two states that make up Kansas City, as well as the original state line design and it’s extremely popular 2013-2014 counterpart that was worn during the club’s 2013 MLS Cup triumph.
These shirts were designed with the two area codes of Kansas and Missouri (913 and 816) embossed into the jersey to create the state line effect, and it also features a shuttlecock inside the Rosedale Memorial Arch on the neck in the back.
Sporting Kansas City’s 2022 state line 3.0 kit release was mostly tepid with fans still pining for the days of the argyle kits from the previous decade…or at least something a little more exciting than mono-navy. While the embossed details stand out well in photos and up close in person, on the pitch the team looks to be playing in plain navy jerseys.
These kits turned out to be solid, if unremarkable, and definitely emulate the original state line kits a great deal.