TUKWILA, Wash. — Mario Martínez is expected to rejoin Seattle Sounders training on Friday, but his contract situation could remain muddled a bit longer.
Although the Martínez’s loan from Honduras’ Real España is due to run out on June 30, Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer explained a final decision won’t necessarily need to be made by then.
“I know June 30 has been out there as some sort of a witching-hour date, which it isn’t necessarily,” Hanauer said on Thursday. “June 30 is the date by which we must give notice if we intend to exercise the option as it’s laid out today to buy Mario. There’s nothing that restricts us from getting beyond that date if we don’t intend to exercise it exactly as it is.
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“Without getting into too much details, if we were going to exercise things exactly the way they were, June 30 is an important date, if not this could potentially drag on. It could all be over in 24 hours.”
Reports out of Honduras suggest the Sounders have already offered Martínez a three-year contract. Even if that’s true and he were to accept those terms, the Sounders and Real España would still need to agree on a transfer fee.
While Martínez could continue to train with Seattle while those details are being worked out, Hanauer said the midfielder won’t be eligible to play until terms are finalized.
