Bargain hunting in the Summer window

With the move to bring in Dario Špikić now off, the Sounders are once again looking at possible transfer targets. The potential transfer fee and the fact that the deal apparently fell apart over salary demands gives us a more defined range to look at as we speculate about the kinds of players they could target instead. This could all completely change if any outbound moves happen, but we’re working within the current circumstances for the time being.

We know that the proposed transfer fee was around $1.5 million, so that’s roughly what we’re looking at for the max if a fee is required. We’re primarily looking for prime age players (24-30, for the most part) who could make an immediate impact, and fit a similar positional profile to Špikić (versatile wingers who are going to get on the score sheet one way or another, who can ideally unlock a defense with a dribble or a pass). As usual, this isn’t a complete list of all possible players, and it’s not based on any inside information. It’s simply a collection of players the Sounders could pursue, who I think could be a good addition to the current group of players.

Free agents

All things being equal, the Sounders would rather sign a player who is available for a free transfer. It allows them to put more money towards the player’s salary, which allows them to potentially sign higher-caliber players for the same expenditure. With that in mind, we’ll start with the free agents who caught my eye.

Munir El Haddadi: Munir El Haddadi, also known simply as Munir, is a 28-year-old (he turns 29 in September) attacker capable of playing basically anywhere in Seattle’s front four. Born in Spain, Munir has spent his entire career up to this point playing for Spanish clubs with over 240 La Liga appearances to his name. He made one appearance for the Spanish national team in 2014 after coming up through Spanish youth teams before filing a one-time switch to the Moroccan national team. He’s made 11 appearances for Morocco, including appearances during the qualifying campaign for the 2022 Men’s World Cup and three matches at the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations.