Intriguing centerback target emerges for Sounders

UPDATE: There are some Argentinian reports that have claimed the Sounders and Santa Fe settled on a transfer fee of $1.5 million, Niko Moreno’s reporting suggests the deal isn’t quite that close to being final. Still, this seems like reasonably good news.

At long last, there seems to be something like a credible rumor connecting the Seattle Sounders to a centerback. An Argentinian radio station is reporting that the Sounders have made an offer for Union de Santa Fe’s Yeimar Gómez Andrade.

Reports in December — which only linked interest to an unnamed MLS team — suggested Andrade had a $2 million exit clause, which would likely be low enough to not require a Designated Player spot.

Especially if he doesn’t command a DP spot, Andrade is a particularly intriguing target. At 6-foot-2, he strikes an imposing presence and he’s averaged more than 3.3 aerial duels per game in each of the past three seasons in the Argentinian top flight. By comparison, Roman Torres never averaged more than 2.2 during any of his five seasons in Seattle.

Over his last three seasons in Argentina, Andrade also averaged 1.7 tackles and 3.4 interceptions per game and chipping in with five goals. These are numbers on par with what Marshall put up during his standout 2018 campaign when he averaged .7 tackles, 2.4 interceptions and 3.2 aerials while scoring four times.

His highlights suggest he’s a player comfortable with the ball at his feet, not worried about tracking forwards into midfield and unafraid of physical encounters.

If the Sounders were able to complete both this and the Joao Paulo transfers in the next few weeks, that would check off the two positions they identified as their biggest offseason priorities.

This story was first published on Jan. 20 and was updated on Jan. 21.