Union Omaha Part Ways with Multiple Players
Amiche, Ouamri, Shealy depart the club on "mutual" contract terminations
Union Omaha announced today the departure of three players on mutual contract terminations: midfielder Kemy Amiche, striker Mehdi Ouamri and goalkeeper Russell Shealy.
Amiche signed with the club in preseason from French fourth tier side US Thionville. The 24 year old Frenchman was a former Nashville SC prospect, and led the MLS club’s MLS NextPro side Huntsville City in goal contributions in the 2023 season.
With Omaha, Amiche made nine appearances in all competitions, three in the starting 11. However, his offensive contributions were limited to only three shots and four chances created in league play, and he has not been seen with the club since subbing in against FC Naples on May 25th.
Ouamri also signed with Omaha in preseason, after a a standout 2024 year with Chattanooga FC in MLS NextPro. There, he scored 12 goals in 27 matches, finishing top five in the league and earning league Best XI honors.
The 25 year old Frenchman was seen as a replacement for Omaha’s 2024 lead goal-scorer Steevan Dos Santos, who retired at the end of that campaign. However, Ouamri never managed to break into the lineup as expected, making only three starts across nine matches across competitions. In regular season play, he registered seven shots, but failed to score any goals. Like Amiche, Ouamri’s last appearance was as a substitute on May 25th.
Shealy was a standout backup to Lalo Delgado in Northern Colorado in 2024, making two starts, and two additional appearances in injury relief. He conceded just one goal, earned one full clean sheet and did not concede any goals as an injury substitute. However he only made one start with Omaha, a disastrous season opener, and disappeared from the roster after March 21st. On April 2nd, the club announced the full signing of third goaltender Cole Jensen, previously on a 25 day contract. Jensen has since served as Rashid Nuhu’s backup, and made his second league start this past weekend against Portland Hearts of Pine.
None of the three released today have been listed in the club’s weekly injury reports, indicating that injuries are not the reason for the departures.
Implications for Union Omaha’s Season
Despite notching two wins in its last three matches, Union Omaha’s season has been disappointing, especially off a championship season. The club sits at 3-5-2 in the table, just outside of the playoff bubble after only recently moving out of last place.
While the defense has struggled with discipline and sluggishness, goal-scoring has also been a major problem, with only ten in regular season play. In addition, through ten regular season matches, none of Omaha’s strikers have scored a goal. The goal-scoring issue was compounded early on when returning forward Lagos Kunga had a season-ending injury in preseason.
Union Omaha has existing loan relationships with Indy Eleven and Chicago Fire, having provided a home for Max Schneider and Missael Rodríguez respectively in 2024. The former signed full time with Omaha this season, while the latter returned to the MLS system, now with The Town FC.
We’re expecting an accompanying announcement soon regarding an inbound loan and/or a free agent signing.
Being a keeper is a brutally hard road to travel. It truly is.
Shealy got one start and was done.
Credit to Jensen for parlaying his 25 day contract into a season long one.
To clarify, this is for budgetary reasons? Which of the three released do you think will get to sign with another pro club? Returning to MLS NP is not an option for all three (as they have aged out).