SEATTLE – Nicolás Lodeiro’s formal unveiling Wednesday as the newest member of the Seattle Sounders wasn’t just a move to save a floundering season. It was a play to try and ensure the Sounders are never in this position again.
Signed after four months of on-again, off-again courtship and frequent flier miles piled up from the exhausting jaunt between Seattle and Buenos Aires, Lodeiro ushers in what Sounders GM and President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey dubbed “a new beginning” that will help the club redefine where it goes from here.
Lodeiro’s career résumé isn’t all that different from the parade of star players signed by the club since its MLS inception in 2009. He’s played in two World Cups, suited up for world-renowned clubs, won prestigious league titles and scored a wealth of important goals in four countries.
But at 27 years old with a freshly minted multi-year Designated Player contract with the Sounders, Lodeiro is different than some of his predecessors in that he’s a world-class attacking midfielder entering his prime, something the Sounders have never had before.
“Philosophically, this is a new beginning for us,” Lagerwey said Tuesday. “This is an opportunity to play with the ball on the ground, to be a possession-based team. To be a passing team, to be a creative, attacking, entertaining team. To say the solution is not to sign yet another attacker, but to sign a midfielder who can make the game. We want the ball, we want to drive the game and dictate the game. And I believe Nico is going to help us do all of those things.”
Lagerwey knows from experience, having signed a 27-year old Javier Morales at Real Salt Lake in 2007, and then riding the Argentine playmaker to the 2009 MLS Cup. Sounders fans know too after watching another Argentine midfielder, Diego Valeri, drive the rival Portland Timbers to the MLS Cup last year, skipping past FC Dallas playmaker Mauro Diaz in the Western Conference Championship and then Columbus Crew SC midfield maestro Federico Higuain in the MLS Cup Final.
“This is the way of modern MLS,” Lagerwey said. “As the league becomes increasingly technical and continues to add more good players … it’s going to be more demanding technically as to how the game is played. It’s going to be a higher level of soccer, and we needed a higher level of player in the middle of our team to run the show for us.”
Lodeiro’s signing didn’t come easily, and was nearly derailed on a few occasions earlier this year. But the Sounders knew they were onto something special - and surprisingly possible - when they began scouting him in earnest during the spring while he was with Boca Juniors in Argentina. Lodeiro had heard plenty about MLS through his friend and former Sounders player Alvaro Fernandez and Boca Juniors head coach and former MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto, and was eager to learn more about the league and Seattle as a possible destination.
The Sounders wanted him earlier – initially there were thoughts he might join after Uruguay competed in the Copa America in June – but his own success at Boca Juniors delayed the plans. Lodeiro and the team advanced to the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores and threatened to postpone his arrival even longer before they were eliminated from the tournament earlier this month.
Lodeiro finally arrived in Seattle on Tuesday, and met with Lagerwey and the rest of the technical staff at the team’s Starfire Sports complex before he was ushered in front of a packed press conference Wednesday. The club expects to work out for the first time on Thursday and it’s possible he could play as early as Sunday against the LA Galaxy at CenturyLink Field.
“We think Nico’s going to be one of the top DPs we’ve signed at this club,” Sporting Director Chris Henderson said. “I think he has an ability to lead the team, and his energy and winning mentality is infectious to his teammates.”
Interim head coach Brian Schmetzer didn’t hesitate to indicate that Lodeiro’s arrival could warrant a change in the team’s formation and approach, especially given the lack of returns on the field this season. The Sounders are currently languishing in ninth place in the Western Conference with an uphill battle to earn an eighth-straight postseason berth, and their offense has been largely to blame. The club has scored 20 goals in 20 games this season, second fewest in the league.
“I’m very keen on getting Nico and Clint Dempsey together, and Jordan Morris added in the mix with Nelson Valdez,” Schmetzer said. “I’m sure they are going to get a good burst of energy from Nico’s appearance with the club.”
Lodeiro, for his part, appears eager to help right the ship. He said Tuesday he felt fit and rested enough to suit up against the Galaxy this weekend and during his unveiling reiterated that Lagerwey helped convince him that Seattle should be the next destination on a career that now spans three continents.
Lodeiro and Lagerwey remained in regular contact throughout the process and while the Sounders have struggled this season, Lodeiro was impressed with the team’s history of success and Lagerwey’s passion to put the Sounders back among the MLS elite.
“Garth convinced me,” Lodeiro said through a translator. “He convinced me with his passion about the team and the project we have with the team. And with the performance the Sounders typically have, they have always been in the playoffs, and it’s an important team in MLS.”
