Seattle Sounders General Manager and President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey confirmed Wednesday that the club has offered the richest Homegrown Player contract in MLS history to Jordan Morris, in hopes that he’ll join the club after wrapping up his college career at Stanford University.
Lagerwey made the announcement during a conference call with media members recapping the season and discussing potential moves during the offseason. The signing of Morris – a Sounders FC Academy product and college standout who is also a rising star with the U.S. National Team – appears to be one of the club’s top goals.
NCAA rules prohibit Lagerwey and the Sounders from speaking with Morris until the end of the college season in early December, but Lagerwey said he is “confident we have a feel” for how Morris feels about the club and his future in Seattle.
“It’s up to Jordan,” Lagerwey said. “Jordan will come out when he wants to come out, and he’ll go where he wants to go. We hope he signs with us, but it’s out of our control.”
Morris, 21, was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year on Tuesday after leading Stanford to its second-consecutive outright conference title. He was also recently called into Jurgen Klinsmann’s 23-man camp for the USMNT's first two World Cup qualifiers, and came on as a sub in a win over St. Vincent and the Grenadines last week.
LA Galaxy midfielder/forward Gyasi Zardes is currently the highest-paid Homegrown Player in MLS, according to numbers released earlier this year by the MLS Players Union.
