TUKWILA — While the big news regarding the Seattle Sounders on Tuesday involved head coach Sigi Schmid’s departure, the Sounders also all but acknowledged a significant player’s imminent arrival.
Seattle is expected to make a big splash in the transfer market by signing Uruguayan international playmaker Nicolas Lodeiro as a designated player in the coming days.
Lodeiro, 27, played the previous season with Boca Juniors in Argentina, with whom he scored six goals in 31 games. He’s also appeared 42 times for the Uruguayan national team, finding the net another three times. His addition would bring some much-needed offensive creativity to Seattle’s midfield.
“Nicolas Lodeiro landed at the airport today,” Sounders owner Adrian Hanauer acknowledged Tuesday. “We have some Is to dot and Ts to cross, but we’re fully anticipating him joining our squad.”
Lodeiro’s official signing could be announced as early as Wednesday. The team would have to quickly complete the paperwork in order for Lodeiro to be eligible for Sunday’s home game against the Los Angeles Galaxy.
“If hypothetically we were to sign Nicolas Lodeiro, he’s going to make us a footballing team,” Sounders general manager Garth Lagerwey said. “He’s going to make us a passing team and a possession team. He’s a tremendous linking player, he has tremendous work ethic, his resume is as good as any you’ll see: He’s won the Copa America, played in three of them, played in the Copa Libertadores multiple times, played in multiple World Cups.
“He’s also the right age, he’s 27,” Lagerwey continued. “His contract will expire when he’s 30 years old, and we have options on him beyond that. But when we talk about making our core group better, younger, more athletic, more technical, he ticks all those boxes.”
Lodeiro’s imminent arrival means Seattle will finally have all three of its designated player roster spots filled. The Sounders have played with just two DPs — forwards Clint Dempsey and Nelson Valdez — since the beginning of the season after star striker Obafemi Martins bolted for China just before the season began.
“We waited for the player who we thought was absolutely the best player,” Lagerwey said. “We had a board that was larger than 10 guys, we got our No. 1 guy. It took a long time to do that.”
Hanauer also seemed to confirm rumors that midfielder Alvaro Fernandez is returning to the team. Fernandez, 30, is a former Uruguayan international who played for the Sounders from 2010-12, scoring 13 goals in 55 appearances before being traded to the Chicago Fire. The free agent spent the previous three seasons with Gimnasia La Plata in Argentina.
For more on the Seattle sports scene, follow Nick Patterson on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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