TUKWILA, Wash. (AP) — The Seattle Sounders have signed forward Jordan Morris and midfielder Cristian Roldan to five-year contracts that will likely keep the pair with the club for the remainder of their MLS careers.
Both players talked about the process for the deals following training on Thursday ahead of the team's departure for Europe to continue preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup next month in Morocco. The Sounders are the first MLS team to participate in the tournament.
The new deals will keep the pair under contract with Seattle through 2027.
“It’s awesome. Obviously good friends and teammates for a long time now. I think our last contracts got announced together as well,” Morris said. “It’s really exciting to go through this process with such a great friend and a great player.”
Morris, 28, has spent nearly his entire club career with the Sounders after signing with his hometown club in 2016 as a 21-year-old. Morris has appeared in 136 MLS matches and scored 42 goals with 20 assists for the Sounders. He returned fully healthy last season after suffering the second major knee injury of his career during a brief loan with Swansea City in the English Championship early in 2021.
“I think that was a great experience and at the time I definitely wanted that to continue and unfortunately it obviously ended way earlier than I expected,” Morris said. “Things happen for a reason. Again I’m excited to be here and if I was over there maybe I wouldn’t have come back and won the Champions League with this great club."
Roldan, 27, was a college standout at Washington and was a first-round pick by the Sounders in the 2015 draft. An anchor for Seattle’s midfield, Roldan has started 205 of 227 MLS games with the Sounders. He has 33 goals and 28 assists with Seattle.
“I think it’s rare in football that you spend so much time with one club and I’ve always felt loyal to the Sounders from the very beginning,” Roldan said. “And to be here — at least signed up to 13 years — is something to be thankful for and never taking any moment that I have with the club for granted.”
Both players were on the U.S. roster for the World Cup last year. Morris appeared briefly in two games while Roldan never saw action.
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