TUKWILA, Wash. — The speculation over who will take the goalkeeper’s job in Seattle after Kasey Keller’s impending retirement took an interesting turn Monday morning. A Polish-language website reported that 38-year-old goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, formerly of Liverpool and Real Madrid, had received an offer from the Sounders.
General manager Adrian Hanauer confirmed that the team is looking for a goalkeeper for the 2012 season, but said he hasn’t made an offer to Dudek.
“He's good goalkeeper, and [the goalkeeper position is] something certainly we’re looking at for next year,” Hanauer said. “Obviously we have to figure out if that’s one of our guys or someone else that we’re bringing in, but unless Chris [Henderson, technical director] is moonlighting by flying to Poland, there’s not much to this.
“Maybe someone made an offer on our behalf, but I definitely did not make an offer to Dudek.”
Dudek is best known for his “spaghetti legs” goalkeeping in the penalty shootout of the 2005 Champions League final, which was won by Liverpool over AC Milan. He spent the past four seasons in Spain with Real Madrid but is no longer under contract with the Spanish giants.
Seattle currently have two goalkeepers on their roster — backup Terry Boss and third-stringer Josh Ford — and are also keeping tabs on 2011 SuperDraft pick Bryan Meredith, who is playing the summer for PDL side Kitsap Pumas. Hanauer also kept open the possibility of bringing in a player from outside the organization to fill the No. 1 goalkeeper’s job.
