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After several media outlets reported Amobi Okugo was on his way out to Orlando, several more reported that the deal was finalized and the last Philadelphia Union original was out the door to the Sunshine State. In addition, CJ Sapong was believed to be heading to Philadelphia, only to have those rumors also come true. This morning Philly.com's Jonathan Tannewald and The Kansas City Star's Sam McDowell reported the deals to be final, followed by a tweet from Sporting Kansas City owner Rob Heinemann wishing CJ Sapong well.
Always hard to lose guys that have meant so much 2 the club and city. .thank you aurelien and cj. Best wishes.
— Robb Heineman (@RobbHeineman) December 8, 2014
Regardless of their perception, the two moves were among the first deals made during the league's brief transfer window today, coming almost before the league can catch its breath after the MLS Cup Final yesterday. It shows that if nothing else, the Union are not going to be passive in their approach to improve this offseason.
In CJ Sapong, the Union have a striker who was thought to have been one of the league's best several years ago. On a very good Sporting Kansas City team, Sapong was an integral part of their 2013 playoff run and their US Open Cup victory, scoring 11 times in all competitions in 38 appearances. Sapong during that season was playing well enough to be the main course in some preposterous rumors sending him to Arsenal of the English Premier League. Needless to say, those rumors never materialized.
Aside from Sapong, the Union are said to have acquire a heap of Allocation money for dishing out Okugo to Orlando City. Reports from Goal.com's Ives Galarcep that the Union received $100,000 in allocation along with a 2016 Second Round SuperDraft pick. This morning, however, reports claim that number to be higher than Ives' original report.
The day is still young, so stick around to the Brotherly Game as we'll have updates and further commentary as news continues to break.