SEATTLE, WASH. – Sounders FC today announced that it has signed midfielder Alvaro Fernandez. The 30-year Uruguayan international spent nearly two and a half seasons in Seattle from 2010-2012, where he scored 13 goals in 55 MLS regular-season matches. Fernandez is being added to Seattle’s roster pending receipt of his P-1 Visa and International Transfer Certificate.
“It’s always great to bring back members of the Sounders family, and Alvaro is a player who knows the organization very well and can instantly come in and contribute to this team,” said Sounders FC General Manager & President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey. “Paired with yesterday’s signing of Nicolás Lodeiro, we think we’ve added two players who immediately make our team better on the field.”
Fernandez, 30, originally joined Sounders FC midway through the 2010 season before being traded to the Chicago Fire in June of 2012 in exchange for Allocation Money. In his two and a half seasons with Seattle, Fernandez recorded 13 goals and three assists in 55 matches (starting 38), finishing second on the club with nine goals in 2011. He added three tallies and five assists in CONCACAF Champions League play, including the winner in Seattle's historic win at CF Monterrey on August 23, 2011. The Soriano, Uruguay native also appeared for Sounders FC in the 2010 and 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Finals, helping Seattle claim its second and third consecutive trophies. Overall, Fernandez recorded 16 goals and 10 assists in all competitions for Sounders FC.
“We’ve very excited to welcome a very good player like Alvaro back into the fold after a few years abroad,” said Sounders FC Sporting Director Chris Henderson. “He was a valuable asset to our team when he was in Seattle a few years ago, and we’re looking forward to the contributions he can make to our current squad.”
Fernandez has been capped 12 times by Uruguay and made four appearances in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, helping Los Charrúas to a fourth-place finish. He began his professional career in Uruguay with Atenas in 2006 and joined Montevideo Wanderers a year later. He also played for Mexico's Puebla, Uruguay's Nacional, Portugal's Vitoria Setubal and had a loan stint with Chile's Universidad before signing with Seattle in the summer of 2010.
After being transferred from Seattle to Chicago, Fernandez scored two goals in 14 appearances with the Fire in the remainder of the 2012 season. Following short-term loan stints with Al Rayyan of Qatar and Nacional, he has spent the last four-plus seasons with Gimnasia of the Argentine first division, where he has five goals in 57 league appearances.
Following a pair of road losses across all competitions last week, Seattle Sounders FC (6-12-2, 20 points) returns home Sunday for a full-stadium matchup against the LA Galaxy on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field (1:00 p.m. PT / ESPN, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360 AM). Sunday's nationally-televised fixture on ESPN marks the third match between the two sides across all competitions this month, as well as the second time this season in which CenturyLink Field has been opened to its full capacity for a Sounders FC match.
Transaction: Seattle Sounders FC signs midfielder Alvaro Fernandez on July 28, 2016.
Name: Alvaro Fernandez
Position: Midfielder
Height: 6-1
Weight: 159
Born: October 11, 1985
Hometown: Soriano, Uruguay
Citizenship: Uruguay
Jersey Number: 21
Acquired: Signed on July 28, 2016
