Talking about his team’s offseason earlier this week, Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer said he couldn’t give details, “but there could be some decent turnover on our roster.”
Well traded the team’s leading scorer would certainly qualify, right?
That’s a possibility according to Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl, who is reporting that the Sounders are shopping Johnson to MLS teams.
Johnson made $156,000 last season, but was likely going to require a pretty substantial raise this offseason to make him happy (he created waves earlier this year when he mouthed “Pay me” while rubbing his fingers together following a goal). Give the team’s cap constraints, and the money invested in attacking players Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey, it makes sense that Seattle could decide it can’t afford to give Johnson a big raise, even though he does have a team-high 23 goals over the past two seasons.
Hanauer also said, “I’d be lying I’d be saying it was the best locker room we’ve had in the five years I’ve been here. There were some tensions at times.”
He didn’t single anyone out, but if a player like Johnson was unhappy with his pay, that could be a factor in this decision as well. Again, Hanauer didn’t single Johnson or anyone else out, just connecting some dots.
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