João Paulo just wants to work. Even when he was arguably the best two-way midfielder in MLS – including a dark-horse campaign for MVP in 2021 – it was due as much to his willingness to put in a tackle as it was his ability to deliver the final ball.
But that’s also what has made the last two seasons particularly tough. As much as João Paulo may have wanted to work, his body was forcing him to rest. It wasn’t so much the missed games — he logged well over 5,000 minutes across all competitions the last two years — as it was the countless training sessions he had to sit out with the aim of being available on the weekend. For a player who has made pushing himself and his teammates to be better his calling card, it took a toll.
But now two full years removed from the ACL injury that cost him most of 2022, the 33-year-old says he’s feeling healthier than at any point prior to his surgery and ready to resume his old ways.
“The ACL was a long process,” he told reporters last week. “Even when I was healthy in 2023, it was a long year to play without resting (he played about 3,000 minutes across all competitions). Then I started right away the next season and it was a lot of time playing and recovery (he also dealt with hip pain throughout). It was a little exhausting to go through that process and now I feel like I’m having a better response.”
At the end of last season, it was not exactly clear what João Paulo’s future had in store. Although he still made 32 appearances, he also missed significant chunks of the season while dealing with a variety of injuries. In order to come back, he’d need to agree to take a significant pay cut from the $1.4 million he made in guaranteed compensation.
Despite having options to play elsewhere — and potentially not have to take as much of a pay cut — João Paulo made it clear that remaining in Seattle was his preferred choice.
