Fredy Montero is back where he belongs.
Montero, 33, signed with Seattle Sounders FC back on March 4, returning to the organization where he first burst onto the scene as a bright-eyed, 21-year-old forward. A few weeks into preseason camp ahead of the 2021 campaign, Montero is drawing rave reviews for how he’s reintegrated back into the club.
“Fredy has been one of the positives [of preseason],” Sounders FC Head Coach Brian Schmetzer told media on Friday. “He’s very, very good, and a talented goal-scorer.”
Montero was arguably the breakout star of Sounders FC’s inaugural 2009 squad. His feats of individual brilliance and dynamic attacking play helped immediately catapult the club into the upper-echelon of MLS. With 60 goals across all competitions – not to mention 47 goals and 34 assists from regular-season play alone – Montero set records and was a massive catalyst for the club’s ambitious ethos.
Signed as a relative unknown, Montero played an integral role in building the foundations of the club’s success in MLS. While the team and the league have undergone tectonic shifts since Montero’s first stint in Seattle, the Colombian forward is champing at the bit to be a positive influence on the pitch and in the locker room.
“The roles and responsibilities have changed for him a little bit, but he’s eager to come back and make an impact,” said Schmetzer. “And Fredy being a good young man, he’s buying in and doing what we ask of him on both sides of the ball.”
Once the young star of the team, Montero has returned to the Emerald City as the vaunted veteran and club legend, stressing the importance Sounders FC’s history to the young players on the squad who hope to follow in his footsteps.
“[He’s been good] with the young kids,” said Schmetzer. “Fredy putting his arm around one of the young kids and saying ‘this club is special, it’s a great place.’ I listen to him telling them stories about 2009, 2010 and 2011. He’s done a good job of being both a good soccer player and an ambassador to some of the players to give them the history of what it was like when we launched the franchise.”
Montero’s return to the club that first propelled his successful globetrotting career is certainly a feel-good story. But as Schmetzer noted, he hasn’t returned to Seattle just sentimental reasons. He’s here to score goals and help the team win games.
As Schmetzer and his staff experiment with various tactical deployments of a two-forward system for this season, Montero will get ample opportunities to further establish himself as one of the greatest players in Sounders FC history.
