A week after signing Swedish defender Adam Johansson, SoundersFC continued its Scandanavian-flavored roster overhaul with the acquisition Wednesday of 23-year-old Danish midfielder Christian Sivebaek.
“Christian is a player that we have been following for quite some time,” said Sounders FC technical director Chris Henderson in a team release. “He is a good one-vs.-one dribbler who can provide consistent quality service to our strikers. He has good speed and physical presence.
“He has been an up and coming player in Denmark,and we are looking forward to adding Christian to our attacking arsenal.”
The tranfser from Denmark’s FC Midtjylland will be completed upon receipt of Sivebaek’s P-1 visa and international clearance.
Sivebaek (SEE-veh-beck), 6-foot-3 and 194 pounds, has been a fixture for Midtjylland in Denmark’s Superliga since 2006 at midfield and right back He appeared in 80 league matches and scored six goals. Sivebaek has represented Denmark at various youth levels 19 times, scoring twice.
His father, John Sivebaek, also played professionally in Europe for 17 years, including seasons with Manchester United and France’s Saint-Etienne and AS Monaco. He was a member of Denmark’s 1992 European champions and the 1986 World Cup selection, and he earned 87 caps.
“This is an exciting opportunity for me to be joining such a club as Sounders FC,” said Sivebaek in the release. “I am looking forward to playing in MLS and for one of the best and biggest teams in America. I am very impressed by the professionalism of the club, the high quality of players and staff, and the great number and passion of their fans.”
Sivebaek started with his hometown club, Vejle. At age 16 he became one of the first eight youths to join the Midtjylland Academy. He signed as a professional two years later.
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. 11: Announced that Danish midfielder Christian Sivebaek, 23, has been signed.
