MLS Moves: Lodeiro arrives in Seattle

by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Jul 27, 2016

On the same day Sigi Schmid departed as the Seattle Sounders coach, 27-year-old Uruguayan Nicolas Lodeiro arrived in Seattle to sign with the Sounders as the playmaker they've lacked.

Lodeiro won the 2011 Copa America with Uruguay and played for Argentine giant Boca Juniors. He is expected to join the Sounders as a replacement for Obafemi Martins, who left for China at the start of the 2016 MLS season and left a huge hole in the Sounders lineup from which they could not recover.

“If, hypothetically, we were to sign Nicolas Lodeiro, he’s going to make us a footballing team,” Seattle president of soccer Garth Lagerwey said. “He’s going to make us a passing team and a possession team. He’s a tremendous linking player and he's got a tremendous work ethic. His resume is as good as you’ll see."

Lagerwey added that Lodeiro, who has also played for Nacional in Uruguay, Ajax in the Netherlands and Botafogo and Corinthians in Brazil, is also the right age: only 27. And his contract (before options) will expire when he's only 30.

"When we talk about making our core group younger, more athletic, more technical," Lagerwey added, "he fits all those boxes. He’s won championships everywhere he’s played and I couldn’t be more excited about having him."

Lodeiro League Titles:
2009 Nacional (Uruguay)
2011 Ajax (Netherlands)
2012 Ajax (Netherlands)
2015 Boca Juniors (Argentina)