On the same day an overzealous Darwin Jones talked about joining Seattle as a Homegrown Player, the Sounders announced the signing of another, younger player.
Jones, a senior at the University of Washington, said he’ll be signing a contract with Seattle upon the conclusion of his college season, but Sigi Schmid said he’s “on the radar” and nothing’s done until the Huskies are out of the NCAA tournament.
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And then Seattle announced the signing of 17-year-old academy product Victor Mansaray, a Sierra Leone native and U-18 US national teamer. He won’t officially be on the roster until Jan. 1.
From SoundersFC.com:Mansaray, 17, is the fourth Homegrown Player signing in Sounders FC history, joining DeAndre Yedlin (2013), Sean Okoli and Aaron Kovar (2014). The forward is being made available to media following the team’s 10:00 a.m. PST training session at Starfire on Thursday, November 6. Members of the media interested in attending should contact Alex Caulfield [alexc@soundersfc.com] or Matt Winter [mattw@soundersfc.com].
“I think the time was right for me to take the next step going forward and it’s a dream come true for me to sign with Sounders FC,” said Mansaray. “I’m surrounded by the right people and I’m looking forward to working hard and getting better. That’s why I’m here.”
As for Jones, his time will come. The forward has 8 goals and 4 assists for the Huskies on a robust 69 shots, after posting 4 goals and 4 assists on 92 shots last season.