Following a whirlwind of rumors and back-and-forth reports regarding his status, Panamanian defender Roman Torres is now a Seattle Sounder after all, officially signing with the club on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old center back is the third major summer acquisition for the Rave Green, joining Austrian midfielder Andreas Ivanschitz and Paraguayan attacker Nelson Valdez as Seattle look to rebound from a woeful 1-8-0 summer stretch.
“We recognize that we hadn’t performed at the level we expected and that we had to make adjustments,” Seattle general manager Garth Lagerwey said on Wednesday. “We’ve obviously been pretty active and pretty busy and hopefully now [head coach Sigi Schmid] has some more choices and what he does with them is going to ultimately lay with him.”
Torres, a veteran of several of the Colombian first division and the captain of the Panamanian national team, spoke with reporters for the first time through a translator on Wednesday, saying that correspondence with some fellow Panamanian players in MLS helped convince him that the move was the right fit.
“I have many players from Panama who came here before like [FC Dallas forward] Blas Perez and others,” Torres said. “They all told me about the importance of this league. I’m very excited about being here and I’m going to give myself to the most important objective, which is to be a champion.”
In Torres, the Sounders believe they have more than just a physically imposing, shutdown addition to their central defense. He is also a legitimate offensive threat, consistently proving to be dangerous in the air and off of set pieces throughout his career in both club and international play.
“I think the thing that I bring the most is my strength, my aggressiveness in playing and also that I’m very good at playing with my teammates,” Torres said. “I’ve received a warm welcome from my all my teammates. I feel really good, like it’s family.”
Ivanschitz also addressed the media for the first time since his acquisition on Wednesday, saying that the opportunity to live and play in the United States made sense from both an on-field and a family perspective.
“We want to live here, my family and me,” Ivanschitz said. “I spoke with many friends who have been to Seattle and know the people here and the club so it will be a very nice experience for sure. I can’t wait to [move] all my family to Seattle. It will be a great time. We’re looking forward to the next months and years.”
Now, the focus turns to helping the Sounders turn around their recent run of poor form, starting this Sunday at home against Orlando City SC (5 pm ET, ESPN2). Schmid said that he is still evaluating the fitness level of all three new faces but that the hope is that they will be ready to impact Sunday’s game in some capacity.
