Sounders make big move up draft to pick Cristian Roldan

After a surprise fall from the consensus No. 2 pick, Cristian Roldan is now a Seattle Sounders FC player. New President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey traded up to Real Salt Lake's 16th spot and selected Roldan. The trade sends Seattle's 27th pick and "other considerations" to Lagerwey's former team. It was later revealed that the Sounders gave up an undisclosed amount of allocation money.

UW Coach Clark recently told Sounder at Heart that Roldan may need to be more of a defensive mid in MLS, where his passing skill would be more pace-setting than playmaking. In watching his play as a Husky he's played as a CAM, CM and CDM. So the consistent part is that he plays centrally.

During his post-selection speech he mentioned that he looks forward to learning from the likes of Alonso and Pineda. That should be a strong indication as to where Seattle sees him playing.

Being from the local college that is fed by the Sounders Academy Seattle's scouts are very familiar with Cristian. The league made him a Generation Adidas offer in 2014 based on Sigi Schmid's recommendation.

Roldan hails from Pico Rivera, California where he won the National Player of the Year award in high school. You may remember him from this adidas commercial.