Sounders FC signs Keller

SEATTLE — The Seattle Sounders FC announced Thursday that the team has signed American goalkeeper Kasey Keller to a multiyear contract.

Keller, who was born in Olympia, is the second player to sign with the club, whose inaugural season in Major League Soccer begins in 2009.

Keller is a four-time World Cup participant and one of the first American goalkeepers to become a regular in the English Premier League. He was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year an unprecedented three times (1997, 1999 and 2005).

“Kasey is arguably the top goalkeeper that the United States has ever produced,” Sounders FC general manager Adrian Hanauer said. “He is a natural leader and those leadership qualities should be of enormous value to Sounders FC.”