The wooing process of Nicolas Lodeiro was probably the most involved in Seattle Sounders history. Considering some of the previous transfer sagas — from Obafemi Martins to Clint Dempsey to Roman Torres — that’s saying something.
The Sounders first started talking to Lodeiro a few months ago and by the time the Copa America rolled around, the negotiations were moving into high gear.
That’s when an unexpected teammate stepped in to help the process. As Lagerwey tells the story, he was attempting to talk to Lodeiro through a combination of his own broken Spanish and the player’s limited English.