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What We Learned This Week: Breaking in the new office/studio space and actual soccer stuff
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Niko joins Jeremiah in the brand new Sounder at Heart offices located in the heart of the International District to talk about everything going on right now during the Sounders pre-season. The guys discuss Alex Roldan and Nouhou’s extensions and also how the Danny Musovski contract negotiations are faring. They talk about how the players are feeling at this phase of training camp in Spain and of course the ongoing, continuing, never-ending Obed Vargas story.
Follow Niko Moreno on BlueSky and YouTube.
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Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which has been primarily listener supported since 2023. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube.
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“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here.
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Transcript
Introduction and New Roles
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. Here we go.
00:00:11
Speaker
Come on. Hey, O'Shaan. Let's go. The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. Here comes Ruiz Diaz through the middle to crown it for Seattle.
00:00:25
Speaker
The Sounders rule the region.
Player Selection and Decision-Making
00:00:58
Speaker
what was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use and who you didn't? Ever since I wrote a commentary that we didn't take the outcome seriously.
Sponsorship and Support
00:01:18
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
New Office Excitement
00:01:42
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adiates on the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. Today is Friday. We are here at the new Sounder Heart office in the ah in the International District. Yeah, yeah.
00:01:57
Speaker
I'm here with Nico Moreno. Doing what we learned this week. Nico, do you think of the new, the new, pretty empty, but what do you think of the new office? Hey, man, I love the office. I'm an ambiance guy. I am a view guy. Love the big windows. The natural light coming in. Lots natural light. Just feeding me.
00:02:15
Speaker
Just vitamin D. I just, I absolutely love it. I think it's, uh, A huge step. i'm I'm proud of you, Jeremiah. And I can only just imagine the things that we could do here. um So I'm
European Training Camps Overview
00:02:30
Speaker
excited. I'm excited yeah for the fans to at some point see it. Some of our guests. who Yeah, we'll start having guests here. we're gonna The idea is that we'll have some public events.
00:02:38
Speaker
ah Probably do some sort of like open house type thing. It's like Kitty Corner from Wajemiah. So if you know that area, you know, it's not necessarily for the faint of heart. but hey so Some good food though, Wajamaya, man. Some great food. That food could be hitting. I know. We had a breakfast today. Sausage and egg and and rice. Can't go wrong. $5.99? Shoot, man. Exactly. We got to get us a sponsorship. A sponsorship from Wajamaya. Exactly. So if you're involved with Wajamaya, please reach out and ah you know we'll get you all signed up. ah But anyway, so we got a good, this has been a good week. I think there's ah ah a fair amount going on.
00:03:16
Speaker
Even though the Sounders are off in Spain right now, they transitioned from Portugal to Spain this week, I believe. What are you hearing from ah the guys over in Europe right now?
00:03:27
Speaker
ah Mainly that the weather has not been ideal. Yeah. And that it's been wet. They've alluded to that in their videos a few times. Yeah, man. It seems like it it just has not been the European vacation vibe. You know, I know that that it's ah it's our it's a training camp and everybody's there to work, work, work. but No beach days. No beach days. The weather. Kalani, Costa Rienzi must be very upset. Exactly. doesn't get to hit the waves nowhere. I know. Although, you know, some of these guys, they might be doing it anyway, but not they're certainly not getting tans.
00:03:57
Speaker
No, definitely not. But it sounds like the work has been there. um You know, beyond the the game, it seems like they're a pretty ah positive about what they've been able to accomplish physically.
Osasio De Rosario's Performance
00:04:11
Speaker
There's been a couple of standards. i' hearing some great things about where Osasio De Rosario is at. It sounds like he's a guy that's you know, just been good right off the bat, both physically and soccer wise. He's a guy that I continue to hear about. um
00:04:29
Speaker
It's exciting to to see that because, mean, I feel like with Danny Masovsky's year, everybody was under the impression that maybe he was going to be the go-to for goals. But if Osasic can you know, step up and, and, and both you and I have talked about, you know, he's, he's not a prospect, but he's a guy that could definitely has a sharpened and, and, and get better. Ooh.
00:04:52
Speaker
I mean, that's, that's good things to hear. And one of the things I love about Osaze is that there is a swagger about him. There is a confidence. He has the build also, like you can see him put on, he put on some muscle this off season. He is already a big guy. He's a big frame.
00:05:09
Speaker
You could see him really turning into sort of like a dominant physical, force and he looks, you know, I've only seen him in training for a few days, obviously, but he looked so sharp. He looks motivated. he He's someone who plays with a little bit of a, like I said, like a swagger, like a chip on his shoulder almost. And, you know, he's not going to just sit there and be happy to be the third forward.
00:05:32
Speaker
He's going to want to get
Sounders' Strategic Focus on Existing Squad
00:05:33
Speaker
real minutes this year. And, you know, between someone like him and Georgie, these are two guys that played, you know less than like 700, 500 minutes, somewhere in there. If they are up to 1500 minutes and they're producing at the same rate that they're producing at, and know, we just ran a story on Sounder Heart about Georgie and the amount of danger that he produces in relatively short. It's almost like off the charts on a per 90 minute basis.
00:05:59
Speaker
And there's a bunch of people in like the American Soccer Analysis Discord joking about how he sort of breaks the models because he he overperforms on a per 90 basis so much. But you you look at two guys like that, and that's a lot of potential upside ah right just right there.
00:06:16
Speaker
Absolutely. And look, and I don't want to get too deep into the rabbit hole when it comes to, look, I, and I think we both have prefaced the season by saying the Sounders are not going to be having a lot of new pieces.
MLS Spending Comparisons
00:06:34
Speaker
not going to be a lot of movement. And I can absolutely understand where fans are frustrated by hearing that, uh,
00:06:41
Speaker
San Jose signed Timo Warner. There you go. Timo Warner to San Jose. And Houston just got Bogut. And they've been pretty... lot of teams are active. Absolutely. In the West. There was just thing that came out from FIFA that said that eight of the top 10 spending teams in CONCACAF last year were from MLS. There's only two of the top 10 from Mexico.
00:07:01
Speaker
I mean, MLS is becoming a very... A relatively high spending league, certainly by the CONCACAF standards. And the Sounders are out here... not spending money.
00:07:12
Speaker
Right. And and that that's I'm always going to say it's a fair frustration is a fair opinion to say, look, I wish that the team would do more. However, when I hear good things about Osasio, when I hear great things about Kalani, when, you know, people keep telling me that Snyder Burnell just seems to be a guy that's going to play the part.
00:07:32
Speaker
as of right now and and and there is this upset on these players, look, if the team is building on continuity and is working and they hit the floor running and they win right off the bat because that's what they decided to focus on, I mean, it's hard to argue with it, right? So that that's all I want to say is that I do feel like everything that I'm hearing from the camp in in Spain is that the team just seems very confident in what they could potentially do to start off the year. Yeah, I mean, it's a i I am with you. I fully understand the frustrations that fans have.
00:08:12
Speaker
There is a undeniable reality that the Sounders are not spending money, especially in the transfer market, the way that virtually every other team in MLS is doing.
Roster Evaluation and Potential
00:08:21
Speaker
that But don't let that distract you from the reality that this is still a strong roster and that in order to upgrade, the Sounders would have to spend a fair amount of money.
00:08:31
Speaker
That doesn't mean that they shouldn't be trying to do that. But that is a reality. They, they, it you know, I just today ah somebody signed a U22. I'm trying to remember who it was.
00:08:42
Speaker
But, you know, you see these guys' resumes and that like this guy came from Ecuador, from Barcelona, and he had like one, he had like three goals in 40 professional appearances.
00:08:53
Speaker
And it's like, this is a forward. This is what $2 million dollars gets you yeah on the market right now, which is to say it's all potential. And if I'm the Sounders, I can understand why they're not dying to spend that money. Was it Bruno Caicedo for Y-caps? That sounds right.
00:09:09
Speaker
Yes, exactly. Yeah, the Ecuadorian. Yeah, so you know that's what that's what that's what you can get for $2 million dollars or whatever. I don't know exactly they spent, imagine it's in that neighborhood. And so I don't really blame the Sounders for not falling over themselves for spending on that, but what it does tell you is that if for the Sounders to upgrade this roster, they should be spending money.
00:09:29
Speaker
Put that aside, it's i'm I'm liking the way the roster looks. like there's you can You can feel two ways. You can be frustrated that Sounders aren't spending more money, and you can also objectively look at the roster and say,
00:09:40
Speaker
ah There's not a ah bunch of obvious holes in it. And there is some potential upside between Georgie and Dero and Brunel. And, you know, this Petkovich who you still have no real idea of what we're going to get out of him.
00:09:53
Speaker
But you kind of just go down the the list. And there's a lot of guys here who have the potential to have breakout type of seasons. And i'm I'm excited about it. The Sounders are going to showcase presumably some of that tomorrow when they play this Swedish team whose team name I'm not going to
Player Contracts and Team Stability
00:10:09
Speaker
try to pronounce right now. Me neither. ah But they're playing a Swedish team ah tomorrow at 5 a.m. Hopefully we can find a stream of it somewhere.
00:10:17
Speaker
But I don't know. It's an in an interesting offseason right now. I do think like you're right. I think they are probably set up well to hit the ground running. to start strong.
00:10:28
Speaker
They're going to have a bunch of road games to begin the season. You're going to have champions league, uh, in March. Yeah. I mean, i don't know. It is no different than last year. Right. I mean, I'm hearing all of this things about the team and those people that were last year basically saying the Sounders had no business in Leaks Cup that had to eat their own words because the team ended up being really good at some point. Now, that can go any other way because this team, as we've said before, amazing.
00:10:58
Speaker
betting on the team being healthy on players taking a second big steps and having a second big season like Jesus Ferreira and all these other components. But look, I do think that if the Sounders can um
00:11:15
Speaker
continue to grow and fix some of those small things that ended up costing him points, some valuable points throughout the season, I can't sit here and deny that I think they're going to be a top three, top five team if everything goes accordingly, if there's health. So again, not being apologetic about how things are are working or or or the system that the Sounders use. You guys have heard me consistently say that I would love for this team to be able to spend a little more here, but a lot more there. But at the same time, you got to kind of take it for what it is. So right now,
00:11:53
Speaker
To conclude, out of Europe, out of both the Portugal camp and Spain, I do feel like there is a good vibe about what's going to take place here next. To the point that, you know, we even had some some news about New Who. And ah we can get on to that because I feel like the team is starting to understand that maybe they need to secure some guys.
00:12:18
Speaker
moving moving forward in order to maybe later figure out where this roster is. Yeah, you had and a nice report this week on Nuhu's contract status.
Contract Negotiations and Financial Strategies
00:12:29
Speaker
It looks like he has signed an extension. We don't know exactly how long the extension was, but it's a sign that the Sounders are, you know, trying to keep pieces together. They're doing good housework. I think that's maybe a way of sort of keeping things tidy.
00:12:44
Speaker
ah They don't want to get into a situation where they are all of a sudden up against it. i I don't know, anything particular in particular about the New Who deal that you want to expand on?
00:12:55
Speaker
No, I think that it's a deal that is, um it sounds like it's club friendly. It was more about giving a player the extension. It wasn't like he's getting this huge raise, according to what ah what what I hear, but it is about just giving him security and you're giving yourself the ability to...
00:13:19
Speaker
control the asset that is new because regardless of what people may think hate or love about new this is a guy that the sounders get a lot of phone calls on and that's the reason why love and scorchers and when he put all those little emojis in the in the in the comment uh he's a guy that's constantly Not necessarily in the trading block, but he is a guy that I'm always waiting for that call or that text. Oh, it's finally here. New who's going to Pachuca or he's going to Leon or he's going to wherever. Right. So. That's the reason because there is a lot of interest in the player physically, you know that the dynamism, that the things that he provides. He's only 28. He's a durable player. We don't need to think we don't we don't talk about this enough. Nuhu's not a guy that is injured from. He doesn't miss him. He just seems to be made out of steel. He got malaria and he missed like a few weeks. Right. You know, his passport might get lost and he might not. Yeah, exactly. know You never know when he might miss a flight or something, but he's healthy. He stays healthy. He stays fit.
00:14:32
Speaker
ah You know, there's a lot to like about Nuhu in those ways. And I think you're going to see a lot of these deals coming up. Another one that we've heard about, Alex Roldan, sounds like he is close to signing an extension. i suspect we're going to hear a lot of these sort of like relatively short extensions that just take guys into the, they kind of update their, their, their contracts for the new calendar.
00:14:57
Speaker
So, you know, guys that are signed through 28, 29, as opposed to 20, 27, uh, things like that. And, you know, so I, and then, but there's another one, who we've heard the Sounders are working on, Danny Masofsky, and it it may be not quite as simple of a deal.
00:15:16
Speaker
do you have anything to add on what's going on with Danny Masofsky? No. ah but Before we talk about Danny, I do want to say that Alex's deal was through 26 and he had an option for 27. I feel like the Sounders saw that as an opportunity to get him secured. So we don't know the details, but I'm guessing whether it's the 28, 29 season or whatever, that's what it would make some sort of sense.
00:15:41
Speaker
But I love the move because I do think that Alex Rodan is another guy that Terminally underrated. Very underrated. Forever underrated. Forever or underrated. He's someone who just quietly comes in and I guess people get frustrated that he doesn't put up these gaudy assist and goal numbers as a right back. But the reality is that you don't get guys who are as solid as him. Yeah.
00:16:06
Speaker
Most teams have sort of rotating casts that go through their fullback positions and that the Sounders have been so stable at fullback has been a real boon to them. And last year, you know, one of the things two years ago that I pointed out several times is that they just did not get very much production on other wide areas. And that included Nuhu and that included Alex Roldan.
00:16:25
Speaker
But last year they got... way more production out of their wide areas, including new who yeah, had a couple of goals and a couple of assists and Alex will Don had a few assists. He had a one big, very big goal.
00:16:37
Speaker
i And I, you just kind of like to see that. I think he is someone who, is a linchpin really of this team who has never really gotten the credit that he deserves. He, he did make that all-star team in 2021, but other than that, he's, he's kind of been on the outside of Seattle. I don't think even in Seattle, I don't know that he gets the appreciation that he deserves.
00:17:03
Speaker
I totally agree. And that's what I love about him is that he doesn't face him. He's forever been underrated in his own family. Right. I'm not saying that his family thought he was underrated. I'm just saying that he's like the other Roldan. Right. He came in as the Seattle U guy, not the UW guy. You know what I mean? He came in as Christian's little brother. And it was sort of this thing of like, well, they're only signing him because he's Christian's brother.
00:17:27
Speaker
And you know he was cut and then he came back and then he earned it. Like, I like the greediness, man, of a guy that's going to come in and play center back He's going to play goalkeeper for you. He's going to play midfield like Alex. He's going to take up and take he's going to step up and take a penalty in the biggest game that this team has played in three years, five years.
00:17:49
Speaker
I can sit here and tell you that i love his delivery on the ball, that I think that he reads the game excellent when he comes to his overlaps and underlaps. I can sit here and tell you that he can absolutely finish when I see him in in training. The guy can finish. He has all these qualities. But I stick with the greediness, man. You know, we're talking about, you know, this part of town. if I'm walking and around with maybe the exception Yammer and Nuhu that are just physically scary – I want Alex with because Alex, he he's a guy that going to ride. i mean, I will say this about Alex. I think
00:18:21
Speaker
he is the one who I would trust maybe the most on the entire team, where if I was in trouble, he would be there to have your back. Like he does not, he is the one guy who I have no doubt is going to be there to back up anyone that he is. i mean, he is he's not afraid. He is he's, i love Alex. I think Alex iss is in so many ways, the perfect, he's like the perfect branchment or player.
00:18:49
Speaker
Yeah. No, I agree. So that's why I love the deal. I'm glad that he has a new one. And now moving on to Danny Masovsky, it does sound like there's obviously talks. There's obviously negotiations. We knew this going into the year. Yeah. He's in the last year of his contract with the Sounders.
00:19:05
Speaker
But we also... I think had the foresight to know that anyone, you, I, our audience that had a phenomenal last year at work go ask and all sudden you're like, Hey man, we need to redo this contract. You're going to ask for money, man.
00:19:22
Speaker
It's what's going to happen. So I think that that was going to be more complicated because I do think that there are going to be some salary demands. Right. from Danny Mussovsky. Again, this that's an opinion. that I don't have any insight on it other than you know their their talks and and he's just not quite there. He should ask for more money.
00:19:41
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network, which now includes Nosarietes, Loving Scorchers, and The Cooler Guild. Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible through our paid subscribers.
Community Engagement and Initiatives
00:19:52
Speaker
Plans start as low as $30 a year and allow us to remain independent and mostly ad-free. Subscribers get access to all our written and podcast content, including a full-text RSS feed and a mostly ad-free podcast feed that includes every show in one spot. If you really like what we're doing though, I'd encourage you to sign up at our higher tiers, which include all sorts of various perks. The most popular of those is our members only Discord, where real Sounders sickos hang out. I know I've called this group the smartest, funniest, and best informed Sounders fans in the world, but it's more than the rough equivalent of a Sounders Mensa meeting. Discord is where we make things happen. Like, for real. You know the promotion the Sounders ran that offered fans the opportunity to trade in their messy jersey for a Paul Rothrock one that originated in our community. You'll not only be the first to know about stuff, but you also have a semi-direct line to the movers and shakers at the Sounders organization. If you want to be one of the totally normal people who occupy the Sounder at Heart discord, just become a supporter of Sounder at Heart. Anyway, thanks for listening and go Durs.
00:20:56
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:21:58
Speaker
You know, the reality is that he had a phenomenal season last year. you scored 18 goals. And I think the Sounders would be crazy to give him, you know, and it a big, big contract. But it he deserves a raise. He outplayed his contract last year.
00:22:12
Speaker
And he has every he's in a position where he can. like if if the And if they don't come to a deal, he gets to go into free agency. I mean, that would be a risk for him. I think it would be a big risk for him to play out this whole year.
00:22:23
Speaker
But it's not it's not one that he he can now show that he has done this. he's He's going to have some interest if he goes into the free agent market. I mean, I tended to think that he was going that the Sounders might try to move him and and just sort of get, find someone who wants to bring him back on a long-term deal. But maybe that's the Sounders. And the Sounders sound like they they want to try out these multiple forward formations.
00:22:47
Speaker
Why not bring them back? If you can get them back on a decent number, we'll see. You know, I, I, I would hope the Sounders don't go crazy and I don't think they will. ah But we'll see. And I think the better DeRose does in this camps, the less leverage that he might have that negotiating table. That's a very good point. That's a very good point. So the other piece of news that came out this week, and I think it's an interesting one.
Future Sponsorship Opportunities
00:23:13
Speaker
The Sounders got out in front of this last night. They announced that the deal with Providence or the front of shirt sponsorship with Providence is going to end at the end of 2027.
00:23:27
Speaker
The way that will functionally work, I was able to find out, is that essentially they're going to have the shirt this year, and then they're to have the front of shirt for the sprint season in 2027. And then in the twenty seven twenty eight season, the Sounders are free to go get another sponsor for that year.
00:23:41
Speaker
But Providence is paying for 26 and 27. And then on top of that, Providence is also keeping their sponsorship of Long Acres. So that will continue to be known as the Providence Swedish Sourish.
00:23:55
Speaker
Sounders clubhouse and whatever. I don't really know the name. Performance center and clubhouse. but oh There you go. Uh, so that, that's going to stay until 2033, but it's an interesting piece of news because this was originally 10 year deal. So it was going to originally go, the whole thing was going to go through 2033 at the, by the end of the contract, it was supposed to be paying the sounders $10 million dollars a year, supposedly.
00:24:17
Speaker
Uh, but it's in the annually in the high, uh, six, seven figures. And so all indications I have are that Providence basically wanted to get out of the deal.
00:24:30
Speaker
Providence has been has been vocal about wanting to get out of the sports sponsorship business. They are, you know, people I'm sure are shedding tears over losing Providence.
00:24:41
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Yeah. But the Sounders get a chance to go back into the marketplace right after the 2026 World Cup and get a new so front of shirt sponsor that presumably is paying even more money than Providence was while still collecting at least. I mean, by at the end of this, i'm I think it's very safe to say the Sounders are still owed at least $10 million, dollars if not more, ah from Providence when this deal ends in 2027.
00:25:07
Speaker
So it's kind of the best of both worlds for the Sounders. i Now, I do think people have a lot of hopes that they're going to get a new sponsor who they love. I would not necessarily get your hopes up because the reality is that the kind of companies who want to sponsor front of shirts for soccer teams usually are trying to do some PR. And it's not always because they're great companies.
00:25:32
Speaker
ah Yeah, that's why, I mean, I don't know if you can deny confirm this, but, you know, I heard that Sounder, Harden, Loving Scorchers are in and the negotiating table. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, we're, we're ah yeah, you know.
00:25:46
Speaker
Have the Sounders come talk to our people and we will ah maybe see what we can do about getting us us plastered across the front of the shirt. ah But, you know, there's all kinds of... count You know, it'll be interesting to see what happens here. I don't think this is a bad move from the Sounders.
00:26:01
Speaker
You know, this is not... Let's be very clear. The Sounders did not initiate this. They did not necessarily want this to happen, but that does not mean that it's not a good thing for them ultimately.
00:26:12
Speaker
i Like I said, though, I am just... the cynic in me is worried that we're going to end up with a company that people hate even more than providence. Um, I would even go as far to say that if providence were signed up today, I don't know that people would be up as upset about it as they were a couple years ago because the political climate just seems like it's so much worse that it's like, okay, providence sucks, but there's so many worse companies out there.
00:26:37
Speaker
Um, I don't know. Uh, and look, um,
00:26:43
Speaker
there isn't much that I have to say on it because I know that at the end of the day, it's going to be about ah the money, the perks, or you know, all of the things that are on the operation side. right The only thing I want is for it to look cool, man. I just, right. i Ever since Xbox, uh we've not had a cool we spoiled we got yeah have man and look i'm not even an xbox i'm born and raised ps all day i mean i'm playstation through and through yeah but that was a cool thing i mean xbox was tight and then we went su lily and then you know the providence i mean know i just want something that looks nice man i just i don't care if it's el rinconcito but i want it to just look dope you know what i mean
00:27:28
Speaker
yeah Yeah. And there's a few companies out there that would look that would certainly look dope, ah you know, but whatever. We'll we'll see how that goes. ah The other thing that is going on, we may as well update. We don't really have a great update, but it's worth talking about again is, yeah, the Obed Vargas
Obed Vargas Transfer Rumors
00:27:46
Speaker
situation. There was a rumor that came out this week that said Lazio of Syria was going to was in for 15 million euros.
00:27:58
Speaker
for Obed Vargas, I'll tell you right now, I have not been able to confirm that that is total bullshit, but I will tell you that no one else other than Football Italia, I believe was the website that reported this, has reported on it, has, i do not give this much credence at all. I mean, if the Sounders got a $15 million dollars bid for Obed, he would be on the plane right now.
00:28:24
Speaker
yeah I mean, he's in Spain. I mean, he'll take a train. He'll train. He'll be right there. They'll just let him just, you know, they'll ship his bags and yeah all his stuff later on. We got you. We got you. Don't worry. Will you PS it? So, no, it it really is an outlandish number. I will say that. I cannot...
00:28:42
Speaker
deny or confirm because I have not gotten any confirmation about it. with I could tell you it's not 15 million. I mean, just just just out of common sense. There's no way someone's paying 15 million. Absolutely. Right. So ah I could see interest from Cedia. Yeah. I think that there's a lot of teams in Serie A, Juventus, AC Milan, Udinense, Lazio, that not just have ties with people here around MLS, but they also ah have been very open about going and getting talent, American talent and and talent from MLS. So it would make some sort of sense. But...
00:29:20
Speaker
Be mindful and filter your information because every day i wake up to a different new rumor about Ovid. The funniest one this morning was there are five teams in five different leagues that are interested interested in Ovid Barca. was like, man, can you just like just condense it a little bit? this Just make me believe it a little bit more. Right. Right. So that's what's going to be the rumor mill.
00:29:45
Speaker
The reality t is that. mean, we're in the crunch time. This is like the next couple days. it doesn't happen, then it's not happening. Exactly. That's the reality. That's all you should know is that if you're going to be on full on Obed look and and and just zero down, I'm going to just be filtering Google every other second. It's going to be this week.
00:30:07
Speaker
But I could also say that as as of three days ago, or two no two days ago, Wednesday, there was nothing on the table. There was no offer on the table for him. So if there is interest and there's something new that comes about, i will remind people that you know it has to be but Obed, oh the club, and and you know his agency that are going to have to come into terms and and figure out what's best or not. So it's a slow process. So to me,
00:30:42
Speaker
It would have to be a very good offer and from a team that's willing to take him on right away in this late in in in the season for some you know European teams. um So, yeah.
00:30:57
Speaker
it And I will say the thing that's interesting about this is, you know, we've been hearing this. I've heard this so many times. People have said, well, there's no way that Obed would...
00:31:08
Speaker
In a normal situation, that is no why would Obed take a deal when he's going to be a free agent in in a year? Well, you know Alex Freeman is in the almost exact same situation as Obed Vargas was. He was going into the last year of his contract. He had a lot of interest.
00:31:26
Speaker
And... Orlando City worked out a deal to send him to Villarreal where they're going to get something like $6 million up front, I believe. Yep. And they're going to get, they have another like 4 million that they could get.
00:31:38
Speaker
And then they have sell on the Sounders would fall over themselves if they could get anything like that for Obed. if If that number would have been six million, I might have even looked into it a little bit more than I did. Right. up To that rumor. Yeah. Because it it does seem like that's a perfect number. It does. And and people should definitely look at this Alex Freeman situation and and everything about it has a lot of similarities. Maybe not exactly, because i know that I know for a fact that a
00:32:09
Speaker
Freeman and and and Orlando City as a club, that they are pretty much in the same page yeah when it comes to moving and all these things, where on the other side, it seems like Obed and his camp and the Sounders, they see things very different. Right. It definitely seems like Obed and his camp have just made a decision about how they want to conduct his future and Orlando and Alex Freeman had a different understanding, but it it was it was the same situation in the fact that in 11 months, Alex would have been a free agent, right? That he's a, uh, young talent, uh, that the team was going have to spend money just to keep them regardless of, um,
00:32:48
Speaker
that he kind of came out of nowhere. And although ob but did it didn't come out of nowhere, you know, he's obviously a Academy prospect. Uh, they're going to have to figure out how to replace them. That is, that is a real challenge. I mean, Alex Newman was probably the best fullback in MLS last year from a statistical perspective.
00:33:05
Speaker
He impacted the game in ways... He's not going to be easy to replace. there And there is... you know it is funny because we have to sort of remind ourselves that, especially when we're talking about Obed Vargas, I feel like we sometimes get lost in this idea that it's all about the transfer fee and that it's that his performance on the field is almost secondary. like whatever ah Whatever he can provide to the Sounders on the field is is of secondary to what the potential transfer fee is.
00:33:28
Speaker
And I do think that that... We sometimes get lost in that because it's important to remember, Obed Vardegas has helped deliver two titles to the Sounders. He will like, I mean, if he is here this year, i don't want to, I don't want to sound like I'm being naive.
00:33:45
Speaker
The Sounders would love to transfer him because they would love to get some money out of this deal. I think if anything, they would, they would they would probably be willing to transfer him for a much, much lower fee as long as they had to sell on percentage.
00:33:56
Speaker
But that's not him. Staying here is not worth nothing. He is a very good player. He is poised. Like the latest reports out of Mexico or that he is maybe even in like strong position to make the World Cup.
00:34:12
Speaker
He he could help the Sounders immensely. And if he were to leave, that is going to leave a hole. I think Hassani Dotson is probably a good, you know, as good of ah a backup option as you're going to get.
00:34:22
Speaker
But having him around is very useful. Of course. And it's not just useful, but it um it keeps your ceiling high. I mean, the potential on Obed, you have an even better season than last year is greatly what he does offensively is something that I can't look at the group being right now and say, these guys are going to be able to have an even better season than Obed in this part of the field.
00:34:55
Speaker
And so there there is a lot of things that are going to be important to figure out as as a Sanders organization if he ends up going.
00:35:06
Speaker
But right now, I guess best case scenario for the Sanders would be if they're not able to sell him in this transfer window, it's going to be just going for it all this season, right hoping that he gets you a title. Absolutely.
00:35:21
Speaker
Absolutely. And I mean, Obed's a ah great player. i mean, I don't know. I don't quite know how. I do think this is all played out in a way that I wouldn't have foreseen coming because it feels like Obed is a loyal guy who wants to sort of do right by people who do right by him. And it and I can see why this doesn't always feel that way.
00:35:43
Speaker
But I also can appreciate that he's doing what he feels is best for his career. And I don't begrudge him that at all. I wish that we heard more from his camp. I do too. That that that is something that I'd really be wanting to do is hear from from his camp. Because look, Obed...
00:36:03
Speaker
It's going to be Ovid. He's focused on the task at hand, which is being the best player he can be and putting the Suns in the best position to win this year. But, you know, we've heard from the club. I wish that we would hear from his camp. I know. And what what are those obstacles? What is it that's holding things up? What is it that they that they would like to see or not see, you know? So all that's the only thing that has been a little bit frustrating in that regard is that there hasn't been anybody from Ovid's camp that has really gone out there and just said, hey, this is what's going on.
00:36:31
Speaker
Right. I know. So Obed's people, please feel free to reach out. That's right. ni You have Nico's number. Nico would be more than happy to talk to you. And ah we can get you guys a sign of the story on this thing. That'd be great. That'd be awesome. I think the audience would love that. So a little bit more, a little bit of housekeeping around the Sounder at Heart world.
00:36:52
Speaker
ah We have the magazine coming out. We actually did the final proof on with this, the final proof before it goes to the printer and we get a physical copy. And then that's actually the final proof. We did that last night.
00:37:05
Speaker
That's that's happening. You know, we're up to we're getting closing in on twelve hundred pre-sold copies of this magazine. It has gone really well. ah We are going to keep selling it.
00:37:17
Speaker
We are going to order more than have pre-orders because we think there's going to be demand once people see this thing. I am thrilled with the job that Lickett has done laying it out.
00:37:28
Speaker
We had some amazing writers contributed to this thing. ah g Willa Wilson, ah Tim Foss, Susie Rance, ah Catalina Bush and Charlie Boehm have all contributed articles to this. There's a crossword puzzle. There's rosters for both the Sounders and Rain. There is a schedule that you can pull out that will be for actually the Rain, Sounders and Defiance on one place.
00:37:55
Speaker
So there's a lot of good little things in this magazine. Like I said, we have this new studio space that we are getting into now that we will hopefully be able to start sharing with with folks.
00:38:08
Speaker
And then mean, Noah are going off to Spain on Monday. I like that. going to Spain on Monday. We're going do it. the like The final piece for the magazine is an interview with Brian Schmetzer. Noah's going to take some photographs of them.
00:38:25
Speaker
I'm going interview them and we're going to shoot. Oh, oh brian shoot a Brian photo shoot. I like that. Maybe get them in a Panama hat. There we go. There we go. Tommy Bahamas, ah you know, fun stuff. But yeah, you know, i think we're, we're lining up for a pretty big year in the world of sound at heart.
00:38:46
Speaker
Big year for Nos Adietes. Big year in the world of ah partnering with Nico Moreno. Excited to to show the people what we got here. Yeah, mean, ideas keep coming. i do.
00:38:59
Speaker
And I'm very confident that this is going to be one of the bigger years when it comes to the entire, you know, partnership and and everything that you guys have done. And I can only be thankful for you to make me a part of it.
00:39:15
Speaker
And yeah, man, it's going to be interesting. More Nico Moreno, hearing more Nico Moreno this year. That's right. Some people are going to be like, man, I'm out. Yeah. No, but it is going to be interesting. I'm looking forward to what you guys get down there in Spain. You know, there's exclusive content. But more importantly, is the underground, you know, analysts just being there, seeing what the guys are at. I really hope that there's a stream tomorrow for this. I hope so. Because we just missed that. We missed that ability to see the games. I have, you know, will say without giving away too much, I think at the very least we'll be able to watch one of those games in Spain.
00:39:56
Speaker
ah One way or the other. I think we'll. And at the worst, worst, worst case, you'll have a first person account of those games because Noah and I will be there
Sounder at Heart Magazine Release Announcement
00:40:04
Speaker
watching them. But I think there's going to be ah my suspicion is that those games will be available to be seen by folks. You know, so hopefully that that ends up coming to fruition.
00:40:14
Speaker
But Nico, I think that's it. I think that's that's the show. trying to think if there was any other things we wanted to address. I guess I could write these things down if I was smart.
00:40:25
Speaker
don't know. I like it but when it when it's like this. what When you're in an environment like this studio, this vibe, you know, was just, you know. Little pitter patter of rain on Absolutely, man. Absolutely. This is exactly what it's all about. And I think, you know, the fans enjoy that little bit of of news. Winding down. That's right. Just just bringing it more down to earth, you know.
00:40:46
Speaker
All right. Well, with that said, let's get out of here, Nico. i am Jeremiah Shan. Nico Moreno, you can, of course, follow on Blue Sky, El Rolo, NW. He is on soccer down here. He's still doing his lobbing scorchers hits.
00:41:01
Speaker
By the way, Lobbing Scorchers going to doing a lot more video from this space. Well, that's pretty exciting. Who knows? Maybe Sounder Heart will get our video act together and start doing some more video too. ah But it's been great doing this with you, Nico. I'm excited for 2026. With that said, let's get out of here. This is Nosadietes, part of the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network, and we'll catch you next time.
00:41:55
Speaker
Let's go sounders.