TUKWILA — The 10 Seattle Sounders who joined the club through the 2008 expansion draft dwindled over the years until last season it was down to just captain Brad Evans.
But now, heading into the club’s eighth Major League Soccer season, the number has doubled with the reacquisition of midfielder Nathan Sturgis.
Sturgis first came to Seattle from Real Salt Lake in the expansion draft of Nov. 26, 2008. He made 29 appearances over two seasons before bouncing around MLS over the next few seasons with Toronto, Houston, Colorado, Chivas USA and back to Houston last season. He has been training with the Sounders this preseason and signed as a free agent Tuesday.
“It feels great,” Sturgis said after Saturday training. “It’s kind of similar; but a lot of new faces from when I was here. … I enjoyed the time I was here. My wife is also from here. It’s good to come back and be near family.”
Other familiar faces from that 2009 season include defenders Osvaldo Alonso and Zach Scott, coach Sigi Schmid and first assistant Brian Schmetzer.
“A lot of new players,” Sturgis said. “But for the most part the same staff. … I really enjoyed my experience here and was treated very well from an organization perspective, fans, team, city. Everything is great here, so I was very attracted to try to get back.”
One recent change is the club’s switch to a 4-3-3 formation. For now, the starting midfield slots appear to be held by Alonso, Erik Friberg and Andreas Ivanschitz.
“I think you have a pretty established group right now in terms of the starting group,” Sturgis said. “So for me it’s just about being fit, getting ready, and whenever I get a chance to play, to make sure I contribute.”
Schmid said he expects minutes for Sturgis, and also for Michael Farfan, another veteran midfielder acquired this offseason.
“Sturgis is a more deeper-lying midfielder,” Schmid said. “Farfan is a guy who can get forward a little bit more, he’s a little more creative. He’s spent time in college and even in his early years at Philly playing more as a 10 — somebody behind the forwards. And Sturgis has always been either a centerback or a defensive midfielder.”
The other Sounders selections in their expansion draft were Nate Jaqua, Jeff Parke, Jarrod Smith, Khano Smith, Peter Vagenas, Tyson Wahl, James Riley, and Stephen King, the latter a current a member of the Tacoma Stars indoor team.
Added time
Panamanian centerback Roberto Chen is no longer with the team. … The Sounders will train again Sunday at Starfire Sports Complex. On Monday, they travel to Los Angeles and train there. On Tuesday they will continue on to Mexico City where they will conclude their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series against Club America at 5 p.m. Wednesday. “We can’t fly direct from here to Mexico City,” Schmid said. “So the moment you can’t fly direct … all of a sudden it becomes a 12-hour travel day between arriving at the airport and the layover. So what we prefer doing … is we’ll go someplace — sometimes it’s Houston, sometimes its Dallas, this time it happens to be L.A. — and we’ll train there, get a good night’s sleep, and then deal with the rest of the trip the next day.”
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