The Seattle Sounders aren’t resting on their laurels so far this offseason, having already secured the services of forward Will Bruin from the Houston Dynamo and midfielder Harry Shipp from the Montreal Impact.
But as he tries to gear his team up for its title defense, Sounders general manager Garth Lagerwey still has some questions left to answer.
One unresolved matter concerns the future of forward Clint Dempsey, who hasn’t played since August after he was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat. Speaking with reporters on a conference call on Friday, Lagerwey said any subsequent moves this offseason – including whether or not he will look to bring in a new Designated Player or major international signing before the winter transfer window closes – could be based on news of Dempsey’s future.
“[A January signing] is definitely still in play,” Lagerwey said. “Dempsey’s health is going to play a role in that, as to whether he plays soccer again, what level he can play, how long he can play, etc. Those are all things that we don’t know.
“When you’re talking about going out and spending big money potentially on a DP, you need to get that right and you need to understand the role that player’s coming into fill,” he continued. “Until you have clarity on Dempsey’s role, it’s a little tricky. Now, to be clear, that doesn’t close the door on a January signing by any means. We’ve done extensive work to be prepared for a signing if that’s the way we go. But certainly the Dempsey factor is a complicating one on trying to make decisions on that stuff.”
Lagerwey said he feels as though the acquisitions of Shipp and Bruin accomplished his goal of adding more starting-caliber attacking depth, adding that the Sounders still have a couple more opportunities to add young talent before the start of next season, including at the MLS Combine and through the 2017 SuperDraft.
“I think it’s fair to say that [Shipp and Bruin] are our major acquisitions,” he said. “From our perspective, at least, we think we’ve improved the club and after [this offseason], we’ll be back at it at the [MLS] Combine and we have the [MLS SuperDraft] and we have two first-round picks. We didn’t give up either of our picks in these deals and we have a second-round pick as well.”
Leading up to next season, the Sounders could also look to bolster some of their depth from within, as opposed to looking to external sources, Lagerwey said.
This could prove especially true defensively, where Seattle are primed to give 23-year-old midfielder Jordy Delem – who Lagerwey called “arguably the best player on [Seattle’s USL affiliate] S2 this past year” – a preseason trial as a potential understudy for Osvaldo Alonso.
Lagerwey also pointed to another S2 product, 19-year-old fullback Nouhou Tolo, as a player who will get a look as a backup for starting left back Joevin Jones.
“We’re going to use our youth academy and we’re going to use S2 and we’re going to continue to push young players up into the pipeline,” Lagerwey said. “It is by far our preference to develop players and develop players within a consistent system, such that they are prepared when they come up to the Sounders.”
