Jordan Morris has chosen MLS.
After weeks of speculation, forward Jordan Morris was revealed as the Seattle Sounders’ latest Homegrown Player signing on Thursday.
The Sounders confirmed in November that they had offered the richest Homegrown contract in MLS history to Morris, and Goal USA reported in December that the contract is in the $250,000-$300,000 range. LA Galaxy attacker Gyasi Zardes was the highest-paid Homegrown in MLS at $223,000 in guaranteed compensation, according to the MLS Players Union.
“We’ve been following Jordan for a long time and have been impressed with his athleticism, work rate and finishing ability,” Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid said. “He’s also a guy with great character and a strong family who we know very well, so we think he’ll be a great fit for our team.”
Welcome Home. pic.twitter.com/5cY6rRUsEK
— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) January 21, 2016
It's good to be home! #seattlelove pic.twitter.com/X4mBwkEkMj
— Jordan Morris (@JmoSmooth13) January 21, 2016
“It’s very important for our organization to build from the Academy ranks, so we are very excited to sign Jordan as a Homegrown Player,” added Sounders GM and President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey. “Jordan had a fantastic collegiate career at Stanford and is now a regular U.S. national team player, so we think he’s a guy who can come in and make an impact immediately.”
Morris, 21, carried Stanford to a NCAA title in 2015, scoring twice in the College Cup final against Clemson. Following the end of the college season, he was awarded the MAC Hermann Trophy, the highest individual intercollegiate award.
He then flew to Germany and trained with German Bundesliga club Werder Bremen, which offered Morris a contract as well. According to the club’s official website, the American forward told Bremen general manager Thomas Eichin that he “sees his future in America” and was feeling homesick.
Morris is set to join the Sounders for preseason at the conclusion of the USMNT’s January camp.
What do you think of Morris joining the Sounders? How will he fit into the Sounders’ starting lineup? What are you expecting from him in the coming years?
Share your thoughts below.
I’m kind of over waking up at 8 on a Saturday to see if anyone gets 15 minutes off the bench, anyway.
Waking up at 8 on a Saturday. Man, you are a go-getter. What a sacrifice. Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle
Break a leg Jordan
Unlike a lot of Brits, who hate on their national team guys because they play for a rival EPL team, I am used to the bizarro-world of turning on and off allegiances. JorMor, just like Deuce, I will love you as a nat, and hate you as a Flounder. That just how it is.
No one is going to post a comment here that hasn’t already been posted. Either you like this decision or you don’t like it but at the end of the day, he’s now a pro soccer player which is what I imagine he’s been dreaming of since he was a little kid. Good to see him go pro, hopefully he will play well and become a top MLS player and go from there be it Europe or Donovan style and stay with Seattle forever…
Yeah I know Donovan didn’t just play for the Galaxy, you guys need to give it a break trying to bust (soccer)balls
Your (soccer)balls are self-busting
Landycakes 2.0 will do well in MLS…until he gets seriously by hack a man MLS defenders and D mids.
Until then he will do well dealing with the constant no call tackles from behind, bear hugs and two handed shirt holds. Provided he can get decent servicing from majority of his teammates who cant accurately make a 5 yard pass.
Off course had he tried in Germany he would have had far superior training and teammates and if he couldn’t consistently crack the lineup he at least would be. Pretty well oiled machine and come back to MLS with his talent and skill like Bradley and the original landycakes…
Of course until he got hacked all season and got injured.
JM will become the greatest MLS player ever – aka world’s tallest midget
I’m a Portland supporter, but a Yank first;
Much success and happiness, young man!
He is hardly homegrown. He spent 1 year before Stanford with the Seattle academy. He is as homegrown as Yedlin. NYRB/Dallas/LA do a muc better jobof developing players.
Sentimentalism must come into play a little, for Morris and Yedlin, as both were born and raised in Seattle.
I don’t get this line of thought. He played for the Sounders Academy. His father was the team physician for 10 years, dating back to when the club was in the USL. He’s been going to Sounders games for 10 years. I don’t think there are many homegrown players with more of a connection to a club than Morris has with the Sounders.
Can you add stips to a homegrown contract? I.e. if he has the opportunity to leave at a certain point in the near future they can add an out clause?
I’m sure its possible to include it, legally speaking, but I don’t think MLS would ever agree to it. I know its issues like wanting to potentially leave early and on his terms, etc. that had Haji Wright sign with Cosmos instead of LAG. Although, Haji doesn’t nearly have the marketability of Morris, so this might be something Morris was able to negotiate (which now that I think about it, may have been the purpose of his trial at WB).
Exactly. He had leverage. I’m sure he has aspirations of Europe and he’s smart enough to use Dempsey, Twellman and Howard as examples where the leagues stymied moves to Europe. If he didn’t put this in his contract then he missed.
What leverage? HE DOESN’T WANT TO LEAVE HOME! What does he need leverage for? “give me a better contract or I’ll go to NASL”?
I think it makes a lot of sense for Jordan to start his professional career at Seattle. I have no problem with that and Klinsmann is rightly pleased by it. My concern is whether or not MLS and his contract will facilitate a potential move to Europe in a couple years. I think Jordan has the talent to make it in a top 4 league, so once he can establish some consistency as a professional and adjust to that environment (not an easy task) within MLS, he should move if possible. To reach his ceiling and to help the National team the most, he should end up playing in a top 4 league, I just hope he will be able to get there in 2 -3 years.
if he is good enough teams will pay, as they did for players they have purchased from MLS before.
any idea how many years the contract is for? not sure if the homegrown contract is required to be a certain length
3 years per Sounder at Heart
Time will tell if he made right choice. I remember when after a few seasons with the revs Clint was trying hard to get out of his contract to sign with Fulham. I hope that doesn’t happen with Morris if after a season or two Seattle and mls let’s him leave without a hassle.
Are there transfer clauses in MLS contracts? If an MLS receives a bid of X dollars, then an MLS can’t stop him from leaving?
I’m sure a release clause can be negotiated into an MLS contract. But historically the problem with players being able to leave MLS for other leagues has been that MLS values players higher than their actual market value. If a club value a player at 2 Mil, but MLS values them at 4-5 Mil than MLS will never release them while the player is under contract. This is what has prevented a number of players leaving.
Thanks Lost. I understand the issue stems from overvaluation by MLS. I just thought a release clause may be a way around that issue.
Morris likely isn’t the best example since he was obviously highly valued before signing with MLS. But lots of guys aren’t necessarily valued by MLS at the beginning of their career. Had anyone besides the most diehard college fan even heard of Dempsey or Geoff Cameron? Maybe those types of players don’t have the clout to negotiate a release clause into their initial contract.
But if I’m Morris’ agent, I’m negotiating a reasonable release clause. Seems like he had all the leverage.
Good for Seattle and MLS, bad for the rest of the Western Conference. Sadly, I wonder how long it will take for Morris to join Dempsey and Martins on the “injured so often due to the crap pitch in Seattle that he’s only available half a season more or less” roster?
He should score a brace on your team way before that
What is your basis for concluding that the surface increases injuries, or caused the injuries you referenced?
he is a solid player but I dont think this really changes any scales in the West. He will be one of the better forward options off the bench, which is good, but I wouldn’t etch Seattle into the cup.
Turf is getting replaced before the end of the season.
*start of season
Is this true? I hope so mainly because I’ll no longer have to see whiny comments about it on this site.