A Sounders Club Legend Will Leave After 2023 Season
Star Uruguayan midfielder Nicolas “Nico” Lodeiro has announced via Niko Moreno of Sounder At Heart (a fantastic independent outlet covering the Seattle Sounders) that 2023 will be his last with the legendary MLS club. You can read the direct interview of Moreno’s here, but the star #10 revealed that his contract is up at the end of the year and that he has not received a new contract. If in fact, this is Lodeiro’s final season with the Sounders, he will surely go down as one of the greatest players to ever wear their crest in the Pacific Northwest.
Lodeiro will surely finish within the top 10 of Sounders games played of all time (currently sitting in 6th with 227 games played), top 5 of Sounders goal scoring of all time (currently sitting in 4th with 58 career goals), and finish as the best Sounders assist leader of all time (currently sitting in 1st with 94 career assists). There is without a question that the 34 year old has his face etched into the Mount Rushmore of Sounders all time. This is especially true when you also consider the fact of the honors he’s picked up during his 8 seasons with Seattle; CONCACAF Champions League Champion, 2x MLS Cup Champion, MLS Best XI member, MLS All Star, 2016 MLS Newcomer of the Year, and 2x CONCACAF Champions League Best XI member.
His arrival during the summer of 2016 immediately exploded him onto the North American soccer scene! His impact pushed Seattle immediately back into the MLS Cup Playoff picture, helping the Sounders come back and finish 4th in the Western Conference. Lodeiro would boost Seattle once again, only this time in the playoffs, as he would score 4 goals in the Sounders total 6 games, leading to a MLS Cup Championship over then a dominant Toronto FC side. In 2017, success would follow Lodeiro and the Sounders again as they would finish 2nd in the Western Conference and eventually lose in the 2017 MLS Cup to Toronto FC. In his first full season in MLS he would go on to; play in 38 games, score 7 goals, and record 14 assists. 2018 saw him get his first taste of CONCACAF Champions League, but in league play record a total of 29 games, 9 goals, and 16 assists. 2019 would begin his most iconic moments in Sounders first. First, he would win the MLS Cup for the second time over Toronto FC, play in 32 games, score 9 goals, and record 17 assists in MLS. This run from 2019 to 2022 would see Seattle make another MLS Cup Final (losing to Columbus) in 2019, make various more CONCACAF Champions League competitions, and the big prize… in 2022 leading the Sounders over Pumas to be the first MLS side to win the modern version of the CONCACAF Champions League.
Lodeiro has been key in the success of the Sounders to be one of the most iconic and best clubs that MLS has ever seen. He successfully helped transition the club into a bright eyed new club that won U.S. Open Cup titles and signed the likes of Clint Dempsey to one that can be viewed as a true staple to the league’s growth. If this truly is the last we see of this man in MLS and Seattle, than we all owe a huge thank you to Nico and the magical moments that he has brought us.
