Sources: Current to hire Armas as new head coach

The Kansas City Current have agreed to terms to hire Chris Armas as the team’s new head coach, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN.

The hiring is still being finalized and pending the standard league clearance of all coaches, but is expected to be confirmed imminently, sources added.

Armas, a former United States player and MLS champion, most recently coached the Colorado Rapids before he and the team parted ways after the 2025 season.

Kansas City had been in search of a head coach since announcing that Vlatko Andonovski would move from the sidelines solely into the role of sporting director, a title he had also held while coaching the team. The Current ran away with the NWSL Shield in historic fashion in 2025, finishing 21 points ahead of the second-place Washington Spirit.

However, despite its regular season success, Kansas City lost to eight-seed Gotham FC in the first round of the playoffs.

Armas’ appointment comes as a surprise, not only because he comes from MLS, but because Kansas City assistant coaches Milan Ivanovic and Freya Coombe were considered potential successors. Andonovski called them «strong candidates» in a November interview with ESPN.

Ivanovic was ostensibly the favorite for the job given his deep connection to Andonovski and had been his top assistant for a decade, first with FC Kansas City, then the Seattle Reign and the USWNT before the Current.

Armas’ hiring suggests that Current leadership sought some level of change despite the team’s recent success, with the bulk of Armas’ previous managerial experience coming on the men’s side of the sport.

He took over as manager of the New York Red Bulls in 2018 following the departure of Jesse Marsch to RB Salzburg. Armas went on to lead the Red Bulls to that year’s Supporters Shield, but was unable to sustain that level of success, and was fired in September of 2020.

Armas took over as manager of Toronto FC in 2021, but lasted only 11 league matches, a period that included a well-publicized feud with star striker Jozy Altidore.

Armas had more success during his two-year stint with Colorado, reaching the playoffs in 2024 and just missing out on the postseason in 2025. Armas’ only foray in the women’s game was a four-season stint with the Adelphi University women’s team, a school where Armas played collegiately.

He was also an assistant coach in brief stints at Manchester United and Leeds United between his time in Toronto and Colorado.

Armas enjoyed a successful playing career, one that saw him make the MLS All-Star team six times and the MLS Best XI five times during stints with the LA Galaxy and Chicago Fire. He was part of the Fire’s 1998 MLS Cup-winning side, as well as four U.S. Open Cup triumphs with the club.

At international level, Armas made 66 appearances for the United States.