Jordan Morris signing to be formally announced Thursday

The Seattle Sounders will announce the signing of Jordan Morris at Thursday's press conference, Sounder at Heart has learned. The press conference will be held at The Ninety and will feature Sounders majority owner Adrian Hanauer, GM and President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey, head coach Sigi Schmid and Sporting Director Chris Henderson. It has been billed as a "significant club announcement." The last time a Sounders press conference featured a panel anything like that it was when Clint Dempsey was first introduced to the Seattle press.

Morris' ties to the Sounders go back more than a decade, when his father first started working for the USL side as a team physician. Dr. Michael Morris has served in that role ever since and Jordan joined the Sounders Academy for the 2012-13 season. He promptly scored 28 goals in 32 games and was named the USSDA U18 player of the year.

Over the next three years, Morris starred at Stanford and became a regular with the United States national team. Morris has made seven USMNT appearances, scored a goal, picked up an assist and featured in a World Cup qualifier. He's closed out his collegiate career by scoring 13 goals in 18 games, including two in the College Cup final that gave Stanford their first-ever men's soccer national title. The 21-year-old is almost certainly the most accomplished amateur American soccer player of the MLS era.

Despite his ties to the Sounders and Seattle, there were significant doubts that Morris would sign with the Sounders after he spent a week on trial with the Bundesliga's Werder Bremen. But on Tuesday Morris expressed his desire to start his professional career in the United States and headed home.

Morris' signing is by far the most significant in an offseason that has been relatively quiet for the Sounders, with most of the change coming in the middle and back end of the roster. Morris will likely take many of the minutes that previously went to Lamar Neagle as he'll likely fill a similar role.