While Javier Saviola’s next stop in his prolific career may be in MLS, it doesn’t appear as if it will be with the Seattle Sounders as recent rumor suggests.
“Saviola is a fantastic player,” Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer told reporters during a teleconference on Tuesday. “We rate him very highly. But I believe he’s ‘discovered’ by another team in our league. There are a lot of great players out there we’d love to have on our team, but at this time there are no conversations and no progress directionally toward Saviola playing for the Sounders.”
READ: Discovery process explained in MLS roster rules and regulations
Each MLS team is allowed to submit a Discovery list of foreign players to the league that essentially gives them the right of first refusal. If another team holds a Discovery Claim on Saviola, that would mean the Sounders would have to compensate another team for the chance to sign the Argentine star. One example of this occurred when the Portland Timbers sent a first-round SuperDraft pick to the Houston Dynamo for the chance to sign Kris Boyd to a DP contract prior to the 2012 season.
Saviola, 31, is currently enjoying a productive year with Champions League Round of 16 entrants Málaga, having netted seven goals on the season for the Spanish club.
