Sounders complete trade for Paul Arriola, sources say

Jeremiah Oshan -

The Seattle Sounders have completed their trade with FC Dallas to acquire MLS veteran Paul Arriola, sources have told Sounder at Heart. Arriola has already reported to Longacres and begun training with the Sounders, who officially open preseason camp on Monday. They will train here for about a week before moving operations to Marbella, Spain on Jan. 19.

The Sounders were able to get Arriola, 29, for a relative bargain, apparently sending Dallas a first-round SuperDraft pick as well as $300,000 in conditional GAM. At the same time Arriola has signed an contract extension with the Sounders that will significantly reduce his salary cap hit from the $1.7 million he made in guaranteed compensation last year.

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Combined with the addition of Jesús Ferreira last week, the Sounders have picked up two veteran attackers who even during down seasons each had more than 10 goal contributions last year. Arriola had five goals and seven assists while getting the majority of his 28 starts at either wing back or fullback. Arriola also got starts at winger and in the midfield.

As recently as 2022, Arriola was considered one of the top wingers in MLS, registering 10 goals and seven assists in his first season with Dallas and carving out a regular role with the United States men’s national team during World Cup qualifying. But he struggled to stay healthy in 2023. Despite a relatively healthy and productive 2024, apparently wasn’t in the plans of new Dallas head coach Eric Quill.

Arriola is considered a popular player in the locker room and former teammates have raved about playing with him. He was apparently willing to take a pay cut to come to the Sounders in large part because he’s never played for a team that was a real title contender.

Jordan Morris, who played with Arriola on the USMNT, was particularly excited about the prospect of playing together.

“Paul is one of my good friends,” Morris said during MLS Media Day on Thursday. “I’ve been talking to him through this process. I’ve known him a long time. I’m excited about bringing him in as well.

“When it first started, he texted and said ‘I just want to win, I want to do whatever I can to help to help the team win.’ To bring a guy in like that with a team attitude is super helpful.”