Lagerwey did not say exactly who the Sounders plan to bring back and/or sign from within the organization, some of the new names to watch include Sota Kitahara, Jackson Ragen, Obed Vargas, Dylan Teves and Alex Villanueva.

Just going off those internal signings, the Sounders will likely be close to 25 rostered players when training camp opens in mid-January. At least several of the Sounders’ currently out-of-contract players are also expected to return and there will likely be some more signings coming out of the Defiance and Sounders Academy. The first addition to the roster was unofficially announced on Friday when Waibel revealed that Tacoma Defiance forward Sam Adeniran had signed a first-team contract for 2022, which brings the roster to 20. Lagerwey said that is likely to change in 2022. The Sounders have historically opened training camp a little short on numbers and have rarely - if ever - filled up their entire roster. Here are some of the main takeaways: Filling from within

Fresh off of notifying players whether or not they’d be planning to bring them back, the trio set the table for the next couple months. Hopefully we come back rejuvenated and ready but we have to listen to our people at the same time.”įor those like Lagerwey, Sporting Director Craig Waibel and head coach Brian Schmetzer, the offseason will have to wait a bit longer. Collectively, we need time to go home, see family, be safe, be relaxed, get away from soccer. “We have a really good staff and these are guys who don’t complain. “One of the things we saw was our staff was tired, mentally really, really fatigued,” Sounders GM and President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey said. This was, after all, the first time in three years that the Sounders hadn’t stretched their season to the absolute limit and the last two seasons had the added stress of dealing with various Covid-19 protocols. That a 60-point season could even be considered a letdown is testament to that.ĭisappointed as they may have been, however, the Sounders braintrust also admitted on Friday during their end-of-season press conference that having a few extra weeks of rest might not be the worst thing. It is now almost cliché to point out that no other MLS team has enjoyed the Seattle Sounders’ level of success since 2009.

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