Within just a few weeks, one of the most stable and consistent clubs of this era in MLS found itself in the midst of a transformative off-season.
Leaving their fourth MLS Cup appearance in five years, the Seattle Sounders saw two vital gears from their recent Western Conference dominance race depart: local Star Jordan Morris striker is moving to Swansea City, and longtime sporting director date Chris Henderson, joined Inter Miami CF after a 13-year stint in Seattle.
Speaking to reporters on a video call on Friday, Sounders general manager Garth Lagerwey spoke about both exits, saying that while they undeniably make things more complicated for the club in the short term, he does not see this off season. as a complete in the reconstruction scenario.
“We are not rebuilding anything,” said Lagerwey. “We are reshaping our core. It is not a reconstruction. We will be candidates this year.”
This core that Lagerwey alluded to is still certainly strong, with players like Nicolas Lodeiro, Raul Ruidiaz, Cristian Roldan, João Paulo and Yeimar Gomez Andrade all returning in 2021. But as he looks to the future without Henderson, one of the most important ones – considered MLS talent assessors, Lagerwey said he expects this to be the season when some of the club’s young local talent will become consistent contributors to the top team.
Academy products Danny Leyva, Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez and Ethan Dobbelaere can expect more minutes this season, and Lagerwey said the focus on player development is something he believes will be emphasized when it comes to finding Henderson’s replacement.
Seattle Sounders star Jordan Morris was loaned to Swansea City by the Premier League on a six-month loan, leaving a gap in Seattle’s attack ahead of the 2021 season. USA Today Sports
“I think we need to change our focus now on the wage cap cycle that we’re in,” said Lagerwey. “We are still going to compete for championships every year, but now we need to focus a little more on the development of the player and overcome this last obstacle. We already had the players, we hired them for the first team, we haven’t put them in the main team yet.
“We saw other teams, Kansas City, Philadelphia, the teams that won in the West and won in the East, playing a series of good young players on both teams. So we know that it is possible to compete and use young players and I think that will be part of our challenge, because it can inform what we see in [Henderson’s] paper going forward. “
Scouting and list building became complicated for each team due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Lagerwey also indicated that recent developments have given him a degree of flexibility more than he previously had. The move from Morris to Swansea is a factor that provides some relief from the salary cap, but there is also the transfer of former Sounders owner Henry Wingo, who was transferred from the Norwegian Mold to Hungary’s Ferencvaros TC in a transfer valued at more of $ 900,000.
“We were out of money before that,” said Lagerwey. “But the two things that happened this week, and this is the world we live in, just this week my plan that I had talked about in the last two months, everything has changed, because now Jordan will loan it to Swansea and they will cover the salary of him, which represents a significant wage cap savings for us, hundreds of thousands of dollars. So we have that, and Henry Wingo was sold to a Champions League club in Hungary.
“We have a liquidation value with that, so two leprechauns landed from a salary cap perspective this week and I won two bags of gold. So we have to sort out exactly how much it will be and some of the details, but we have some capacity now to do things. “
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– Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) January 22, 2021
As for the thinking behind Morris’s move, Lagerwey said it was something that was driven by the player. The 26-year-old became one of the most dangerous strikers in the league in Seattle, winning two MLS Cups and being the league’s 11th best last season, and has long been the subject of speculation regarding a move abroad.
It was Morris who decided that now was the time to test himself, Lagerwey said, and that the Sounders will support him as he tries to help Swansea win the Premier League Championship promotion.
“At the end of the day, it depended on Jordan,” he said. “This is what he wanted. We are hopeful, we are optimistic that Swansea is currently in second place and they have a good team and will go up to the Premier League? Sure, it is what everyone expects. But it will go up to Jordan and it will be up to to that team the way they play and we know that the coach is very excited to have him. Their version of a sports director is very excited to have him. So, I think it’s a place that football the people on this side want him , the business people on that side want it and we feel that it is a good environment to send them.
“So I hope all the elements of the recipe are there and everything comes down to what Jordan wants. Look, it may be that Jordan will go there and tear it up and decide at the end of the day that he wants to go home. But we will cross that bridge when we get to that point, we’re excited for Jordan and we hope to see him succeed to the end. “