While there’s been plenty of discussion lately about China steadily becoming a surprising destination for some of the world’s best players, one member of the Seattle Sounders wants nothing to do with it.
Sounders forward and Paraguayan international Nelson Valdez said this week that he recently rebuffed a potential offer to move to China, instead opting to stay put in Seattle.
Valdez told the Seattle Times that his agent approached him with interest from China during the offseason.
“I said I didn’t want to know nothing,” Valdez told the Times. “I am happy in Seattle so I want to stay and focus on Seattle.”
Added during the Sounders’ summer signing spree last year, Valdez scored one goal in seven regular-season games and added another in the postseason in 2015. He was also fruitlessly linked to a potential offseason move to Colombia, insisting “I’m proud to be a Sounder and very happy in Seattle.”
Chinese club Hebei China Fortune has made waves in recent months by signing Ivory Coast internationals Gervinho and Stephanie Mbia, and Brazilian midfielder Ramires left Chelsea for a lucrative new deal with Chinese club Jiangsu Suning late last month.
Former Sounders forward Fredy Montero has also been part of the recent player migration to China, joining Chinese club Tianjin Teda via transfer from Portuguese side Sporting CP earlier this month.
Valdez, meanwhile, insisted that he’s happy in Seattle, despite an offseason shift in locker room dynamics and fewer Latino players on the roster.
Three Latino players who welcomed Valdez last year are no longer with the club – Leo Gonzalez returned to his native Costa Rica, Gonzalo Pineda retired and Marco Pappa was traded to Colorado.
“Leo was the first guy to show me everything in the room, and who is who,” Valdez told the Times. “Leo is a really, really good guy. (Gonzalo) Pineda, also. (Marco) Pappa was really nice to me. … I appreciate a lot of the Latino people. We are now only three – or four – but we are happy in Seattle.”
