It took more than a week-and-a-half after the initial reports, but on Thursday, the Sounders made it official: Forward Obafemi Martins has been transferred to the Chinese Super League and Shanghai Greenland Shenhua.
The reported transfer fee due the Sounders is $2 million, and the move will nearly double Martins’ 2016 salary, from $3.6 million to $6.6 million, according to the Washington Post.
Because it is so close to the beginning of the MLS season, the timing is less than ideal for the Sounders. Martins has been their most consistent performer since joining the club in 2013 — he netted 40 goals in 72 MLS appearances and finished second in the 2014 MVP voting — so it’s hard to say with a straight face that the move makes the Sounders a better team in the short term.