The Cordell Cato v Mrisho Ngassa "battle" may not exist at all. Word out of Mrisho Ngassa's Tanzanian club (Azam FC) is that they will release him to Seattle Sounders FC on a free. After purchasing him for a national record 40 thousand dollars this would be a huge move for a club in a relatively poor footballing region. A move that would seem to be done so theplayer could "shine internationally."
Azam FC secretary general, Idrisa Nassor says the club are willing to release forward Mrisho Ngassa to MLS club Seattle Sounders for free
— Tom Legg (@tomlegg) January 1, 2012
This news comes via Tom Legg's twitter account. Legg also writes at site Eastern Promise and profiled the Tanzanian national team recently for Sounder at Heart.
Ngassa played on the right in his trial appearance with Seattle against Manchester United, but also plays on the left wing in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. The 21 year old has experience at many levels with the National team and is the primary offensive focus for Azam in league play.
During the Adam Johansson conference call Technical Director Chris Henderson noted that competition for roster spots will continue despite a seemingly "full" slate.
We're still going to come in with a pretty good group of players. There's players who are still competing for spots. If we find there is a position where we think there's another player who is new to the group that we think can come in and replace one of these players we're going to consider that. So [the training roster] may be smaller but not by much.
A young player with upside from a region that Seattle wants to grow available on a free would seem close to a no-brainer if his talent appeals to the team.