Seattle Sounders FC signed forward Cordell Cato Monday, and will add him to the club’s roster upon receipt of his P-1 visa and international transfer clearance, continuing the club’s pursuit of youthful roster depth.
The 19-year-old Cato is a native of Trinidad and Tobago and was selected to his country’s squad for the 2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championships. He most recently played with Port of Spain’s Defence Force FC.
Cato joined that club as a youth before moving to San Juan Jabloteh FC.
“Cordell provides us speed and versatility as he can play on the flank and up front,” said Sigi Schmid, Sounders FC head coach. “He’s a young player with a good future.”
Cato trained with Sounders FC last summer.
Seattle Sounders FC Off-season News/Transactions
- Nov. 23: Lost defender James Riley to the Montreal Impact in the MLS expansion draft. Riley came to the Sounders in the 2008 expansion draft from the San Jose Earthquakes. After his selection, the Impact traded Riley to Chivas USA.
- Nov. 23: Accepted the resignation of lead broadcaster Arlo White, who took a position with NBC as its lead announcer on MLS coverage.
- Nov. 24: Traded defender Tyson Wahl to the Montreal Impact in exchange for allocation money. Wahl made 39 appearances for the Sounders in three seasons after coming to Seattle in the 2008 expansion draft from Kansas City, where he played three seasons.
- Dec. 2: Announced that defender Taylor Graham, a seven-year MLS veteran, and goalkeeper Terry Boss both retired. They had been members of the Sounders since 2009.
- Dec. 6: Announced that the club would kick off its fourth season in MLS on Saturday, March 10, 2012 at home; time, opponent, and national broadcast information to be announced.
- Dec. 7: Signed Austrian goalkeeper Michael Gspurning as a replacement for Kasey Keller. Gspurning, 30, has been capped three times by Austria and played the past four seasons for Skoda Xanthi of Greece’s top flight.
- Dec. 12: Selected D Marc Burch from D.C. United in the MLS re-entry process stage 2 draft.
- Dec. 14: Signed Argentine midfielder Mauro Rosales to a two-year contract, announced at the club’s annual business meeting with season-ticket holders. Rosales, 30, set the club record with 13 assists in 26 league matches, ranking third in MLS. He also scored five goals.
- Dec. 29: Signed Swedish defender Adam Johansson to a multi-year contract.
- Jan. 3: Signed Burch, most recently of D.C. United, to a contract.
- Jan. 5: Announced that the U.S. National Team had called in midfielder Brad Evans and defender Jeff Parke for a training camp that will run through Jan. 26 in the U.S. and Panama.
- Jan. 10: Announced that Ross Fletcher, formerly of BBC Radio, and former goalkeeper Kasey Keller would serve as the team’s broadcast team, Fletcher as the play-by-play voice, Keller as analyst.
- Jan. 12: Drafted Andrew Duran, named the Missouri Valley Conference’s defender of the year at Creighton University, with the 15th pick in the first round of Major League Soccer’s SuperDraft. With their second-round pick, 34th overall, the Sounders selected forward Babayele Sodade (Bah-bye-elle-EE Sho-Dahd-DAY) of Alabama-Birmingham.
- Jan. 11: Announced that Danish midfielder Christian Sivebaek, 23, has been signed.
- Jan. 17: Selected four players — D Tim Pontius of the UC Santa Barbara, M Jason Banton of the Liverpool reserves, UW F Abdul Aman and Cal Poly defender Wes Feighner– and also acquired the rights to UCLA midfielder Andy Rose from Real Salt Lake in exchange for the rights to defender Leone Cruz, selected 21st overall in 2011 MLS SuperDraft.
- Jan. 18: Signed F Cordell Cato, a native of Trinidad and Tabago.
