Jordan Morris Close To Signing With Seattle Sounders

It sounds like Jordan Morris has finally decided to turn pro. It was only a matter of time to be honest. Morris is currently in negotiations with the Seattle Sounders on a contract that would make him the highest paid MLS Homegrown Player in history according to Ives Galarcep.

Who Is Jordan Morris?

Morris, 21, is coming off a season in which he helped his college, Stanford University, win their first ever national championship when they beat Clemson back on December 13th. In his junior season, he scored 13 goals and assisted on three others in 18 appearances. In his last two years, he has appeared in 33 games and has scored 17 goals and assisted on nine others.

People outside of Seattle started to know who Morris was when he received a call up to the United States men’s national team back in 2014. Since his initial call up, Morris has appeared seven other times and has one goal to his name. It’s fitting his first goal came against Mexico back on April 15, 2015 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX.

Morris received a lot of criticism for deciding to stay in college after his sophomore season, even from some people in Seattle (fans, not that Sounders). This writer applauded his decision to stay in college and continue to get his degree at one of the finest college institutions in all of America. To criticize him for wanting to stay was just plain wrong and selfish as a fan base. None of that matter now as he is about to become a professional soccer player in his hometown of Seattle, WA (Mercer Island if you want to be honest).

Where Will He Play?

The biggest question is where does he fit in with the Sounders Starting XI? The Sounders currently have Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey at the top of the formation. You don’t sign Morris to the largest salary ever for a Homegrown Player to ride the pine.

Does this mean that Head Coach Sigi Schmid will change from his normal 4-4-2 formation and go to something else that can get all three players on the field at the same time? During the postseason, we saw Dempsey swap positions on the field with Nelson Valdez in order for Valdez to rest. Would Clint be willing to move to more of a winger position to allow Morris to start up top with Oba? Probably not, but Sigi must now find a way to get all of his best players on the field at the same time.