SAFC and Kekutah Manneh mutually terminate contract

San Antonio FC announced Tuesday afternoon that it had mutually agreed with forward Kekuta Manneh to terminate the player's contract.

The news overrides an announcement from Wednesday, April 13, where SAFC said it had exercised its option to buy out Manneh's contract.

SAFC acquired Manneh on Feb. 7 for his 10th season as a professional, most of which have been spent in MLS, where he scored 31 goals and assisted 19 over the course of 171 appearances. While SAFC tweeted there were “goals incoming” when Manneh signed, he unfortunately picked up a shoulder injury and never made an official appearance for the club.

“That really a good question, but you asking the wrong person, I'm just doing my rehabilitation [sic],” Manneh told The Striker Texas via text message when initially asked why SAFC bought out his contract. “Not sure what's going on, you should asked the club.”

The only playing time Manneh appears to have gotten with SAFC was the second half of a preseason friendly away to FC Dallas on Feb. 12.

The next mention of Manneh was the injury report ahead of SAFC’s season opener on March 12, then March 19’s report specified he had undergone a successful shoulder surgery and would be re-evaluated in 12 weeks, but SAFC decided to buy out his contract just three and a half later.

“We are excited to welcome Kekuta to the team,” said SAFC Head Coach Alen Marcina when signing Manneh on Feb. 7. “He brings high-level experience, on-field leadership, game-changing speed and a very good final product. Kekuta will add to our high-performance environment and team identity.”

Fans considered Manneh to be one of the biggest signings SAFC made for 2022 given his experience and skills.

Manneh joins goalkeeper Crisitian Bonilla as high-profile, highly-anticipated players who have already left SAFC less than a month into the season. Bonilla announced his retirement on March 31.